Fig. 6: In human melanoma patients GDF-15 serum levels predict response to and survival under therapy with anti-PD-1 antibodies. | Nature Communications

Fig. 6: In human melanoma patients GDF-15 serum levels predict response to and survival under therapy with anti-PD-1 antibodies.

From: Tumor-derived GDF-15 blocks LFA-1 dependent T cell recruitment and suppresses responses to anti-PD-1 treatment

Fig. 6: In human melanoma patients GDF-15 serum levels predict response to and survival under therapy with anti-PD-1 antibodies.The alternative text for this image may have been generated using AI.

a, b GDF-15 levels were analyzed in 37 melanoma patients at baseline of ipilimumab treatment, and correlated with clinical responses based on RECIST v1.1 criteria (a), including durability of initial responses (b). c–j GDF-15 levels were analyzed in pre-treatment sera from 34 melanoma patients prior to pembrolizumab treatment (Zurich cohort, c–e), and from 88 patients (Tübingen cohort, f–j) prior to treatment with pembrolizumab (n = 48) or nivolumab (n = 40). GDF-15 serum levels were correlated with responses according to RECIST v1.1 (c, f). Black circles indicate patients with ongoing responses at the time of analysis. Groups were compared by Mann–Whitney test in a–c. In d, g, h, logistic regression models were fitted for response (d, g) or disease control (h) under anti-PD-1 treatment. Dotted vertical lines indicate GDF-15 serum levels (continuous predictor) corresponding to a 50% probability of treatment response. Two extreme values ([GDF-15] ≫ 100 ng/ml) are displayed at the upper end of the scale. In e and i, overall survival of 34 (e), respectively 88 (i) patients was analyzed by Cox proportional hazards model with overall survival (time to death) as outcome variable and GDF-15 as continuous predictor. Kaplan–Meier plots (cut-off: 2.0 ng/ml GDF-15) are shown for visualization (e, i). Further Kaplan–Meier curves including serum lactate dehydrogenase (sLDH) as additional predictor were calculated for the Tübingen cohort (j). Censoring is indicated by vertical lines. In f, p-values were calculated by Kruskal–Wallis test. In f, g, h, one patient whose clinical course contradicted the RECIST1.1-, and therefore target lesion-based classification as complete responder was omitted from statistical consideration. One further patient could not be staged and is therefore neither displayed nor assigned to any group. In i, j, overall survival between groups was compared using two-sided log-rank tests, including all patients. Horizontal bars in a, b, c, f depict median values. Source data for b–h are provided as a Source Data file.

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