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Table 1 Pre-treatment virus-specific B and T cell reactivities in 17 patients with MCPyV-positive MCC receiving pembrolizumab

From: Merkel cell polyomavirus-specific immune responses in patients with Merkel cell carcinoma receiving anti-PD-1 therapy

Patient no. Antibodies to small T-antigena MCPyV tetramer analysisb MCPyV intracellular cytokine reactivityc Response assessed by RECIST 1.1d
3 + + – CR
7 + + – CR
8 + + + PR
6 + + – PR
9 + + – PD
16 + + – PR
12 + – – PR
21 + – – CR
19 + – + PD
4 + N/A – PR
13 + N/A – PR
26 + N/A – PR
23 + N/A – PD
15 + N/A – PD
25 + N/A – PR
14 – N/A – CR
10 – – + PR
  1. a Baseline serum samples from all patients were used to measure MCPyV small T-antigen oncoprotein antibody titers at Laboratory Medicine (University of Washington, Seattle, WA) as described [6]. Titers above 74 STU were considered positive as negative control sera titers fall below 74 STU [7]
  2. b All patients were low-resolution HLA class I genotyped to determine eligibility for CD8 T cell specific MCPyV peptide-HLA class I tetramer screening (Bloodworks Northwest, Seattle, WA). Pre- and post-treatment peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) collected from patients with HLA class I types that corresponded to available MCPyV-specific tetramers (A*02:01, A*24:02, B*07:02, B*35:02, or B*37:01; n = 17 patients) were stained with appropriate tetramers and analyzed by flow cytometry. Samples with > 0.01% of CD8+ T cells co-staining with tetramers were considered positive. N/A (Not Available): nine patients, regardless of tumor viral status, had HLA class I types not amenable to tetramer staining and could thus not be evaluated for the presence of T cells recognizing MCPyV
  3. c PBMCs pre-treatment and post-treatment blood collections (week 12 or 21) were stimulated with pools of MCPyV-specific peptides in a flow cytometry-based intracellular cytokine secretion assay (HIV Vaccine Trials Network, Seattle, WA). PBMCs that secreted interferon-gamma and/or IL-2 robustly (≥0.1% of CD8 T cells after background subtraction) were considered reactive to MCPyV
  4. d Abbreviations for RECIST 1.1 response criteria are as follows: CR complete response, PR partial response, PD progressive disease
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