Table 1 Summary of preliminary evidence of routinely available blood and clinical markers predictive of ICI outcomes

Lymphocyte count

Ipilimumab

Melanoma

⩾1000 per μl at week 6→↑ OS

(Delyon et al, 2013; Ku et al, 2010)

Ipilimumab

Melanoma

↑ At 2–8 weeks vs baseline→↑ response

(Bjoern et al, 2016; Martens et al, 2016b)

Ipilimumab

Melanoma

↑ At week 12 vs baseline→↑ OS

(Simeone et al, 2014)

Nivolumab

Melanoma

⩾1000 per μl at week 3–6→↑ OS

(Nakamura et al, 2016)

Relative lymphocyte count

Ipilimumab

Melanoma

↑ Baseline→↑ OS

(Martens et al, 2016a)

Pembrolizumab

Melanoma

↑ Baseline→↑ OS

(Weide et al, 2016)

Total leucocyte count

Ipilimumab

Melanoma

↓ Baseline→↑ response

(Gebhardt et al, 2015)

Eosinophil count

Ipilimumab

Melanoma

↑ Baseline→↑ OS

(Martens et al, 2016a)

Ipilimumab

Melanoma

↑ At week 3 vs baseline→↑ response

(Gebhardt et al, 2015)

Ipilimumab

Melanoma

↑ At week 6 vs baseline→↑ OS

(Delyon et al, 2013)

Relative eosinophil count

Pembrolizumab

Melanoma

↑ Baseline→↑ OS

(Weide et al, 2016)

Neutrophil count

Ipilimumab

Melanoma

↓ Baseline→↑ response

(Gebhardt et al, 2015)

Ipilimumab

Melanoma

↓ Baseline→↑ PFS and OS

(Ferrucci et al, 2016)

Nivolumab

Melanoma

<4000 per μl at week 3–6→↑ OS

(Nakamura et al, 2016)

Neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio

Ipilimumab

Melanoma

↓ Baseline→↑ OS

(Khoja et al, 2016; Zaragoza et al, 2016)

Ipilimumab

Melanoma

↓ Baseline→↑ PFS and OS

(Ferrucci et al, 2015)

Nivolumab

NSCLC

↓ Baseline→↑ OS

(Bagley et al, 2017)

Derived neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio

Ipilimumab

Melanoma

↓ Baseline→↑ PFS and OS

(Ferrucci et al, 2016)

Monocyte count

Ipilimumab

Melanoma

↓ Baseline→↑ OS

(Martens et al, 2016a)

Lactate dehydrogenase

Ipilimumab

↓ Baseline→↑ OS

(Delyon et al, 2013; Kelderman et al, 2014; Valpione et al, 2015; Collins and Le Manach, 2016; Dick et al, 2016; Khoja et al, 2016; Zaragoza et al, 2016; Martens et al, 2016a)

Nivolumab

Melanoma

↑ Baseline→↓ OS

(Nakamura et al, 2016)

Pembrolizumab

Melanoma

↓ Baseline→↑ OS

(Weide et al, 2016)

Pembrolizumab, nivolumab

Melanoma

↓ Baseline→↑ OS

↑ At week 12 vs baseline→

↓Response, OS

(Diem et al, 2016)

Ipilimumab

Melanoma

↓ At week 12→↑ response and OS

(Simeone et al, 2014)

C-reactive protein

Ipilimumab

Melanoma

↓ At week 12→↑ response and OS

(Simeone et al, 2014)

Smoking status

Nivolumab

Current/former smokers→↑ response

(Hellmann et al, 2014)

ECOG PS

Nivolumab

Melanoma

<1 at baseline→↑ OS

(Nakamura et al, 2016)

Nivolumab

NSCLC

<2 at baseline→↑ OS

(Bagley et al, 2017)

Liver metastases

Nivolumab

NSCLC

Presence at baseline→↓ OS

(Bagley et al, 2017)

irAE

Ipilimumab

Melanoma

Early irAE→↑ response

(Downey et al, 2007)

Ipilimumab

Melanoma

No association with OS

(Horvat et al, 2015)

Nivolumab

Melanoma

Any-grade AE→↑ response

(Weber et al, 2017)

Nivolumab

Melanoma

Rash, vitiligo and any grade AE→↑ OS

(Freeman-Keller et al, 2016)

Pembrolizumab

Melanoma

Vitiligo→↑ objective response

(Hua et al, 2016)

Immunotherapy

Melanoma

vitiligo-like depigmentation→↑OS

(Teulings et al, 2015)

Body composition

Ipilimumab

Melanoma

Baseline sarcopenia or low muscle attenuation→severe treatment-related toxicity

(Daly et al, 2017)