Chunxiao Zhou,* Lei Xu,* Mo Geng, Shaoshan Hu

Cancer Center, Department of Neurosurgery, Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital, Affiliated People’s Hospital, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, People’s Republic of China

*These authors contributed equally to this work

Correspondence: Shaoshan Hu, Department of Neurosurgery, Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, 310003, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86 152 6816 6248, Email shaoshanhu421@163.com

Purpose: Patients with glioma often fail to achieve satisfactory outcomes despite receiving surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) shows promise in addressing the limitations of traditional treatments. However, the immunological effects of PDT in glioma patients remain underexplored. This study aims to fill this gap by analyzing lymphocyte subpopulations and inflammatory markers in glioma patients undergoing PDT-assisted surgery.
Patients and Methods: To enhance our comprehension of the immunobiology of glioma within a clinical framework, we conducted a retrospective analysis of glioma patients from September 2019 to December 2023. Peripheral blood lymphocyte subpopulations (CD3+, CD19+, CD4+, CD8+, CD4+/CD8+) and hematological inflammatory factors were compared among 18 patients who underwent surgery with PDT, 10 patients treated with surgery alone, and healthy controls. Additionally, lymphocyte subpopulations from 48 healthy individuals and hematology inflammatory factors from 38 healthy controls were regarded as controls.
Results: PDT-assisted surgery resulted in significant alterations in lymphocyte subpopulations and inflammatory markers before and after treatment, particularly in CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. PDT-treated patients demonstrated a superior therapeutic response compared to surgery alone (P=0.035). Notably, primary glioma patients had more prolonged overall survival than recurrent glioma patients (P=0.039).
Conclusion: PDT-assisted surgery significantly affects lymphocyte subpopulations and inflammatory markers, enhancing immune response in glioma patients. These findings support the use of PDT as an effective adjuvant therapy. Monitoring lymphocyte subpopulations and inflammatory markers may be valuable for glioma prognosis and treatment optimization.

Keywords: glioma, lymphocyte subpopulations, inflammatory markers, photodynamic therapy