Figure 3.

Association between the frequency of CD57⁺CXCR3⁺CD8⁺ T cells and outcome in patients with HR-MDS and AML under treatment with AZA. A, Box plots displaying the percentage of the CD57⁺CXCR3⁺ cells within CD8⁺ T cells, assessed by flow cytometry in responders and nonresponders (HR-MDS, n = 12 responders and 9 nonresponders; AML, n = 9 responders and 11 nonresponders; CMML, n = 5 responders and 5 nonresponders). B, After stratification of patients with HR-MDS and AML to responders (n = 12) and nonresponders (n = 19), FlowSOM analysis was performed on BM CD8⁺ T cells, which generated six metaclusters that are projected onto the viSNE plots. Representative viSNE plots (one for each group) are shown. C, Box plots showing the proportion of all metaclusters, expressed as the frequency within CD8⁺ T cells. D, Heatmap depicting the expression levels of all T-related markers. E, Kaplan–Meier curves for OS in patients which received AZA treatment, with ≤29% (n = 51) and >29% (n = 26) CD57⁺CXCR3⁺ CD8⁺ T cells before treatment initiation. The survival curves were compared by the log-rank (Mantel–Cox) test, and the P value is shown. The median OS of the ≤29% group was 20.98 months, whereas the median OS of the >29% group was 12.05 months. F, Survival curves for each disease subgroup. Increased (%) CD57⁺CXCR3⁺ correlates significantly with worse survival in patients with HR-MDS and AML, whereas no association is observed in patients with CMML. G, Patients with HR-MDS and AML with ≤29% CD57⁺CXCR3⁺ exhibited higher response rates. No association between the frequency of CD57⁺CXCR3⁺CD8⁺ T cells and response to therapy was observed in patients with CMML. An unpaired Student t test was used in A. A Mann–Whitney U test was used in D. **, P < 0.01; ***, P < 0.001.