Whole blood samples of the patients were collected and the fresh whole blood was analyzed by multicolor flow cytometry according to our previously published and optimized IPT protocols.17 18 (link) IPT was performed within 3 hours after the collection of whole blood. Data acquisition was performed on a Gallios Flow Cytometer (Beckman Coulter) in the standard filter configuration. The Kaluza Flow Analysis Software (Beckman Coulter) was used for data analysis. The immune cell subpopulations analyzed are visualized and specified in online supplemental sFigure 1.