Journal of Immunotherapy最新文献

Responses to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) differ significantly between uveal melanoma (UM) and cutaneous melanoma (CM) patients. We investigated the immune profile of metastatic UM(mUM) patients and identified markers that are predictive of improved survival. Metastatic liver samples from 189 UM patients and 48 CM patients were analyzed at genomic and transcriptional levels, and survival analysis was performed on a subgroup of 76 ICI-treated mUM patients. UM liver metastases seem to preserve the genomic and immune characteristics of primary UM (pUM), with a low prevalence of ICI markers and high mutation rates of GNA11, GNAQ, BAP1, and SF3B. Compared with mCM, UM liver metastasis showed lower infiltration of several immune cells, but a greater proportion of M2 macrophages. Compared with UM liver metastases, CM liver metastases showed higher expression of G2M checkpoint and EF2 target genes. Among the mUM and mCM samples, expression of G2M and E2F pathway genes was highest in tumors with high TMB values and T-cell inflamed scores. A longer median overall survival (OS) was observed in mUM patients with higher expression of LAG3, HLA class I, or HLA class II; which may represent a small proportion of immune hot tumors. Expression patterns of G2M checkpoint and E2F targets suggest a possible contribution to immunotherapy response.

Calreticulin (CALR) preserves reticular homeostasis by maintaining correct protein folding within the endoplasmic reticulum. Immunogenic cell death (ICD) is a regulated form of cell death and could activate adaptive immune response. As one of the damage-associated molecular patterns during ICD process, surface-exposed CALR resulted in the activation of adaptive immune response. Here, we evaluated the expression patterns of CALR in a cohort of 231 untreated triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) and determined correlations between CALR expression and clinicopathologic parameters, programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression in immune cells (ICs), and survival. In addition, we analyzed a TNBC data set from The Cancer Genome Atlas to explore the relationship between mRNA expression of CALR and clinicopathologic features, IC infiltration, and survival. Tissue microarray results showed that high CLAR was strongly correlated with advanced stage ( P = 0.022), shorter disease-free survival ( P = 0.008) and overall survival ( P = 0.002), and independently predicted prognosis in TNBC. Spearman analyses demonstrated that CALR negatively correlated with PD-L1 in ICs ( r = -0.198, P = 0.003). Patients with low CALR and high PD-L1 in ICs had the best disease-free survival ( P = 0.013) and overall survival ( P = 0.004) compared with other patients, especially the patients with high CALR and low PD-L1 in ICs. In the "The Cancer Genome Atlas" cohort, CALR mRNA expression in tumors was significantly higher than that in normal tissues ( P < 0.001). CALR expression was strongly and positively related to other ICD-related genes. These findings demonstrated that the expression of CALR could independently predict the prognosis in patients with TNBC, and it may play a potential synergistic role in treatments involving immunotherapy.

ER stress has emerged as a promising target for cancer therapy. RNA sequencing data of patients with THCA were obtained from the TCGA database to identify differentially expressed genes associated with ER stress. Signature genes were selected through univariate Cox regression, LASSO, and multivariate Cox regression analyses. The predictive performance of the model was assessed using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and ROC curves. GSEA was conducted to explore pathway enrichment between high-risk and low-risk groups. The immune landscape of risk groups was characterized using ssGSEA, ESTIMATE and CIBERSORT algorithms. Quantitative real-time PCR was employed to investigate the mRNA expression of the signature genes. Finally, immunotherapy response and potential drug sensitivity were evaluated. The prognostic model based on the signature genes ANK2, APOE, ERP27, FPR2, and NOS1, demonstrated robust predictive performance. GSEA results revealed distinct pathway enrichment patterns in the high-risk and low-risk groups. Furthermore, ssGSEA revealed that low-risk patients exhibited enhanced immune-related functions and increased immune cell infiltration. The RT-qPCR results revealed that in thyroid cancer cells, APOE and ERP27 expression levels were elevated, and ANK1, NOS1, and FPR2 expression levels were decreased. Immunotherapy, as well as Palbociclib and Perifosine, were predicted to be more effective for low-risk patients. Conversely, high-risk patients were more likely to benefit from Axitinib, Imatinib, Nilotinib, and Temsirolimus. This study identified 5 signature genes as potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets for THCA. These findings provide novel insights into the prognosis and targeted therapy of THCA, offering a foundation for furture clinical applications.

Immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI)-induced thyroid dysfunction is the most frequent endocrine immune-related adverse event (irAE). Thyroid hormones have various effects on the cardiovascular system; however, the impact of thyroid irAEs on the development of cardiovascular diseases is not fully understood. This retrospective study included 94 patients who received ICIs and had thyroid function and troponin T levels, markers of cardiac damage, measured at the National Cancer Center Hospital East between January 2017 and July 2022. Of the 94 patients, 36 (38%) showed elevated troponin levels after ICI treatment during the follow-up period. The median observation period was 249 days (interquartile range, 124-502 d). Thyroid irAEs [hypothyroidism (n=13) and hyperthyroidism (n=3)] associations were found in 16 (44%) of these 36 patients. None of the patients developed overt cardiovascular disease or died of heart disease, regardless of whether they experienced thyroid irAEs. The troponin levels increased with increasing thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) levels. In particular, troponin levels were significantly elevated in patients with TSH >20 μIU/mL after ICI treatment ( P =0.009). In conclusion, thyroid irAEs may cause cardiac damage indicated by elevated troponin levels, necessitating special attention, particularly in cases of hypothyroidism where TSH exceeds 20 μIU/mL. Therefore, it is important to monitor cardiac markers along with thyroid function after ICI treatment.

Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is a widespread and deadly form of cancer. Prostaglandin 15-deoxy-Δ-12,14-prostaglandin J2 (15d-PGJ2) possesses antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer properties. However, it is unclear whether this effect on LUAD progression stems from its ability to influence macrophage polarization. By utilizing 3- (4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT), flow cytometry, colony formation, transwell assays, and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), we investigated how 15d-PGJ2 affects A549 cell viability, proliferation, apoptosis, and invasion, as well as levels of interleukin (IL)-4, IL-13, and IL-17. Human monocytic cell line THP-1 was induced into M2 macrophages using phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate and IL-4/IL-13, followed by treatment with 15d-PGJ2. The study employed flow cytometry to observe the polarization of macrophages, quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) to identify epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expression, western blot for identifying expression of macrophage marker proteins, and examining EGFR/rat sarcoma (Ras)/rapidly accelerated fibrosarcoma (Raf) activation. In a coculture setup, CD8 + T cells were shown to have a proliferation capacity by carboxifluorescein diacetate succinimidyl ester (CFSE), a killing ability by lactate dehydrogenase, and an analysis of their interferon gamma and tumor necrosis factor alpha levels by ELISA. 15d-PGJ2 reduced invasion capacity and expression of inflammatory cytokines, lowered A549 cell viability in a dose-dependent way, and promoted apoptosis. 15d-PGJ2 facilitated the transition of M2 macrophages to the M1 type, inhibited Ras/Raf pathway activation, reduced EGFR expression in macrophages, and stimulated CD8 + T cells to enhance anti-tumor immunity. 15d-PGJ2 repressed M2 macrophage polarization and LUAD immune evasion by targeting the EGFR/Ras/Raf pathway in macrophages.

The current biomarkers for immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy have several limitations, and new ones are being explored. Retinoblastoma-binding protein 8 (RBBP8) is associated with tumor-infiltrating immune cells (TIIC) and immune checkpoint molecules. Therefore, RBBP8 may serve as a novel biomarker for ICI therapy. Thus, in this study, we investigated the relationship between RBBP8 expression and the tumor immune environment in 58 patients with pathologic T3-4 gastric cancer who underwent radical gastrectomy. Immunohistochemistry of primary tumor specimens was performed to evaluate RBBP8, TIIC, and programmed cell death ligand 1 expression. Kaplan-Meier survival and prognostic factor analyses were also performed using Cox proportional hazards regression models. Patients were divided into RBBP8 high (HG, n=29) and low (LG, n=29) expression groups, using the median RBBP8 expression as the cutoff. The LG had a significantly worse overall survival rate than the HG (log-rank test, P =0.029). Furthermore, the overall survival rate of patients in LG who were treated with ICI (n=7) was worse than that of those in HG (n=9; log-rank P =0.005). Multivariate analysis identified extensive lymph node metastasis and low RBBP8 expression as independent prognostic factors. The HG and LG showed no significant difference in the number of TIICs; however, there was a difference in the number ratios of CD4+/CD8+ ( P =0.012) and CD4+/CD3+ cells ( P <0.001). Therefore, RBBP8 expression in patients with advanced gastric cancer is a prognostic marker that affects the proportion of CD4+ T-cell infiltration and may also be a biomarker for predicting ICI treatment response.

Summary: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer are associated diseases. COPD confers a negative prognosis in NSCLC, but the clinical benefit of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) in this population is unclear. A population-level analysis of patients in Ontario, Canada was performed through the ICES (formerly known as the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences) administrative database. Patients with NSCLC and treated with PD-1/PD-L1 immune checkpoint inhibitors between Jan 2010 and Dec 2020 were included. Overall survival (OS) was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method and compared using Cox proportional hazards regression. Hospitalizations and duration of treatment were compared secondarily using logistic and linear regression. A total of 4306 patients received ICI and 54% of patients had a diagnosis of COPD. Median (95% CI) OS was 9.2 (8.5-9.9) months for patients with COPD and 8.2 (7.3-8.8) for patients without COPD, which was not significantly different (adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) = 0.94, 95% CI, 0.87-1.01, P = 0.092). Similarly, the median time on treatment was not different (85 vs. 99 days, multivariable P = 0.10). However, the 90-day hospitalization rate was decreased in the COPD population (multivariable odds ratio 0.76, 95% CI 0.62-0.94, P = 0.011). Among patients with NSCLC receiving ICI, our data suggest that a diagnosis of COPD does not result in shortened treatment, poorer survival, or higher rates of hospitalization. COPD itself should not be considered a contraindication to ICI.

Immunogenicity of allogeneic chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapies may preclude durable therapeutic responses and broad clinical implementation. Although genetic knockout (KO) of beta-2-microglobulin (B2M) is commonly employed to abrogate HLA class I expression thereby preventing allorecognition by recipient T cells, this deficiency induces missing-self responses by natural killer (NK) cells. Here, we demonstrated that forced expression of a chimeric membrane-bound CLEC2d, an inhibitory ligand of CD161, and concurrent loss of CD58 (LFA-3), an adhesion ligand of CD2, substantially mitigated NK cell responses against allogeneic B2MKO T cells. This combination reduced in vitro NK cell-dependent lysis to a greater extent than either strategy alone and increased the in vivo persistence of these cells after infusion into NK cell-replete humanized mice. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that the convergence of orthogonal genome engineering approaches effectively averts NK cell-driven rejection of allogeneic T cells for immunotherapy.

Dendritic cells (DCs) are specialized immune cells that play a crucial role in presenting antigens and activating cytotoxic T lymphocytes to combat tumors. The immune checkpoint receptor programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) can bind to its ligand programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1), which is expressed on the surface of cancer cells. This interaction suppresses T-cell activation and promotes immune tolerance. Radiation therapy can increase the expression of PD-L1 on tumor cells, which can lead to a decrease in the effectiveness of the treatment, and detailed studies are needed to understand the mechanisms. As many patients develop resistance to chemotherapy and radiotherapy-either through lack of response or cancer recurrence-there is a critical need to maximize synergistic effects by selecting combination treatments that offer improved therapeutic efficacy with minimal side effects. In the present study, immature DCs (iDCs) were introduced directly into irradiated tumor sites (referred as IR/iDCs), and immune checkpoint blockades (ICBs) were administered intraperitoneally. We confirmed the antitumor effect of combining IR/iDCs and ICBs by examining tumor growth and mouse survival. The proportion of CD4 + and CD8 + T cells in splenocytes increased in the IR/iDCs-treated groups. Combining IR/iDCs with an anti-PD-L1 antibody led to a significant reduction in distant tumor growth and improved mouse survival rates compared with IR/iDCs alone or IR/iDCs + anti-PD-1 antibody. These findings suggest that integrating radiotherapy, DC-based immunotherapy, and ICB, specifically targeting PD-L1, may be an effective cancer treatment strategy.

In this study, we aimed to investigate disparities in the tumor immune microenvironment (TME) between primary and metastatic malignant melanoma (MM) using single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA- seq ) and to identify metastasis-related T cell marker genes (MRTMGs) for predicting patient survival using machine learning techniques. We identified 6 distinct T cell clusters in 10×scRNA-seq data utilizing the Uniform Manifold Approximation and Projection (UMAP) algorithm. Four machine learning algorithms highlighted SRGN, PMEL, GPR143, EIF4A2, and DSP as pivotal MRTMGs, forming the foundation of the MRTMGs signature. A high MRTMGs signature was found to be correlated with poorer overall survival (OS) and suppression of antitumor immunity in MM patients. We developed a nomogram that combines the MRTMGs signature with the T stage and N stage, which accurately predicts 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year OS probabilities. Furthermore, in an immunotherapy cohort, a high MRTMG signature was associated with an unfavorable response to anti-programmed death 1 (PD-1) therapy. In conclusion, primary and metastatic MM display distinct TME landscapes with different T cell subsets playing crucial roles in metastasis. The MRTMGs signature, established through machine learning, holds potential as a valuable biomarker for predicting the survival of MM patients and their response to anti-PD-1 therapy.