Prognostic significance of tumor-associated neutrophils and circulating neutrophils in glioblastoma, IDH wild-type

Abstract Background Tumor-associated neutrophils (TANs) in the tumor microenvironment are prognostic biomarkers in many malignancies. However, the prognostic value of TANs in glioblastoma, IDH wild-type remains poorly studied. We analyzed correlations of TANs and peripheral blood neutrophils prior to radiotherapy with overall survival (OS) in glioblastoma. Methods RNA-seq expression profiles of patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma, IDH wild-type were extracted from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), and the Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas (CGGA). TAN infiltration was inferred using CIBERSORTx algorithm. Neutrophil counts prior to radiotherapy in newly diagnosed glioblastoma, IDH wild-type were obtained from the First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University. The prognostic value of TANs and peripheral blood neutrophils before radiotherapy was investigated using Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox proportional hazards models. The robustness of these findings was evaluated by sensitivity analysis, and E values were calculated. Results A total of 113 and 173 individuals with glioblastoma, IDH wild-type were identified from the TCGA and CGGA cohorts, respectively. High infiltration of TANs was of prognostic of poor OS in TCGA (HR = 1.811,95% CI: 1.048–3.128) and CGGA (HR = 1.572, 95% CI: 1.046–2.365). Levels of peripheral blood neutrophils before radiotherapy (HR = 2.073, 95% CI: 1.077–3.990) were independently associated with poor prognosis. Sensitivity analysis determined that the E-value of high TANs infiltration was 2.38 and 2.52 in the TCGA and CGGA cohorts. Conclusions TANs and peripheral blood neutrophil levels before radiotherapy are prognostic of poor outcomes in glioblastoma, IDH wild-type.