(1) Background: The dysfunction and reduced proliferation of peripheral CD8+ T cells and natural killer (NK) cells have been observed in both aging and cancer patients, thereby challenging the adoption of immune cell therapy in these subjects. In this study, we evaluated the growth of these lymphocytes in elderly cancer patients and the correlation of peripheral blood (PB) indices to their expansion. (2) Method: This retrospective study included 15 lung cancer patients who underwent autologous NK cell and CD8+ T cell therapy between January 2016 and December 2019 and 10 healthy individuals. (3) Results: On average, CD8+ T lymphocytes and NK cells were able to be expanded about 500 times from the PB of elderly lung cancer subjects. Particularly, 95% of the expanded NK cells highly expressed the CD56 marker. The expansion of CD8+ T cells was inversely associated with the CD4+:CD8+ ratio and the frequency of PB-CD4+ T cells in PB. Likewise, the expansion of NK cells was inversely correlated with the frequency of PB-lymphocytes and the number of PB-CD8+ T cells. The growth of CD8+ T cells and NK cells was also inversely correlated with the percentage and number of PB-NK cells. (4) Conclusion: PB indices are intrinsically tied to immune cell health and could be leveraged to determine CD8 T and NK cell proliferation capacity for immune therapies in lung cancer patients.
Keywords: CD56bright NK cells; aging; cancer; immune cell expansion; immunosenescence; peripheral blood indices.