Statistical analysis
The graphs represent the mean value+standard deviation (SD), unless otherwise indicated. A student’s t test for paired data, Wilcoxon rank-sum test, or a one-way ANOVA were performed using GraphPad Prism version 5.0 (GraphPad Software). Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the patient characteristics, treatment-related AEs, overall responses and CIK cell phenotypes. The Mann-Whitney U-test was used to compare continuous variables, and Fisher’s exact test was used for categorical variables between groups. Survival rates were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Overall survival (OS) was defined from the date of first treatment to the date of death resulting from any cause or the date of last follow-up. Progression-free survival (PFS) was calculated from the time of first treatment to the time of first disease progression or last follow-up. A difference of p<0.05 was considered statistically significant in all the analyses.