Background: Anti-programmed cell death-1/programmed cell death ligand-1 monoclonal antibodies have been widely used in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), but not every patient can get benefits from them. Whether other molecular markers can predict the results of programmed cell death-1/programmed cell death ligand-1 inhibitors need to be explored. Lymphocyte-activation gene-3 (LAG-3) is another important immune checkpoint, which can inhibit tumor immunity. Soluble LAG-3 (sLAG-3) plays different functions from LAG-3. In this study, we detected the serum sLAG-3 level in NSCLC patients.
Methods: sLAG-3 was detected in 247 hospitalized patients by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Every sample was repeated three times.
Results: Two-hundred forty-seven hospitalized patients were enrolled in this study. Of them, 71 had benign diseases and 176 were NSCLC patients. sLAG-3 in NSCLC serum was correlated with NSCLC stage. The sLAG-3 levels were significantly higher in stage I–II NSCLC than in stage III–IV (p <0.001).
Conclusion: The advanced NSCLC had the lower sLAG-3 expression. This might be related to the poor cancer immune response. Increasing sLAG-3 level might be a promising treatment in advanced NSCLC patients.
Keywords: soluble lymphocyte-activation gene-3, non-small-cell lung cancer, immune therapy