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Immunotherapy, specifically PD-1 blockade, is a promising treatment for advanced gastric cancer (AGC). However, predicting patient response is challenging. Cytokines, key immune response regulators, could be important biomarkers for forecasting patient outcomes and susceptibility to PD-1 blockade immunochemotherapy in AGC. This meta-analysis aims to evaluate the potential of cytokine profiles as predictive biomarkers for treatment outcomes in patients with AGC undergoing immunochemotherapy. Meta-analysis. Original studies on the evaluation of various serum samples of cytokines in AGC patients after immunochemotherapy were searched in PubMed, Google Scholar, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science, with a focus on literature published up to October 31, 2023. Data from multiple studies were pooled to analyze the impact of IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, and IFN-γ expression on treatment outcomes using RevMan 5.4.1. Prospero ID: CRD42024557837. Five studies were included. In AGC patients receiving immunochemotherapy, high levels of IL-4 were correlated with enhanced PFS following therapy. In contrast, there were no significant differences observed in the expression of IL-2, IL-6, IL-10, and IFN-γ for PFS in AGC after treatment. Notably, elevated IL-6 expression was significantly associated with poorer OS in AGC patients undergoing immunochemotherapy. The findings suggest that expression levels of cytokines, particularly IL-4 and IL-6, play a significant role in predicting treatment outcomes in AGC patients undergoing immunochemotherapy. Further research is warranted to validate these results and elucidate the underlying mechanisms driving these associations.
Yang et al. (Sat,) studied this question.