Effects of tumor grade and dexamethasone on myeloid cells in patients with glioma

Understanding the immunosuppressive microenvironment of glioma: mechanistic insights and clinical perspectives

Glioblastoma (GBM), the predominant and primary malignant intracranial tumor, poses a formidable challenge due to its immunosuppressive microenvironment, thereby confounding conventional therapeutic interventions. Despite the established treatment regimen comprising surgical intervention, radiotherapy, temozolomide administration, and the exploration of emerging modalities such as immunotherapy and integration of medicine and engineering technology therapy, the efficacy of these approaches remains constrained, resulting in suboptimal prognostic outcomes. In recent years, intensive scrutiny of the inhibitory and immunosuppressive milieu within GBM has underscored the significance of cellular constituents of the GBM microenvironment and their interactions with malignant cells and neurons. Novel immune and targeted therapy strategies have emerged, offering promising avenues for advancing GBM treatment. One pivotal mechanism orchestrating immunosuppression in GBM involves the aggregation of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), glioma-associated macrophage/microglia (GAM), and regulatory T cells (Tregs). Among these, MDSCs, though constituting a minority (4-8%) of CD45+ cells in GBM, play a central component in fostering immune evasion and propelling tumor progression, angiogenesis, invasion, and metastasis. MDSCs deploy intricate immunosuppressive mechanisms that adapt to the dynamic tumor microenvironment (TME). Understanding the interplay between GBM and MDSCs provides a compelling basis for therapeutic interventions. This review seeks to elucidate the immune regulatory mechanisms inherent in the GBM microenvironment, explore existing therapeutic targets, and consolidate recent insights into MDSC induction and their contribution to GBM immunosuppression. Additionally, the review comprehensively surveys ongoing clinical trials and potential treatment strategies, envisioning a future where targeting MDSCs could reshape the immune landscape of GBM. Through the synergistic integration of immunotherapy with other therapeutic modalities, this approach can establish a multidisciplinary, multi-target paradigm, ultimately improving the prognosis and quality of life in patients with GBM.

Lessons learned from phase 3 trials of immunotherapy for glioblastoma: Time for longitudinal sampling?

Glioblastoma (GBM)'s median overall survival is almost 21 months. Six phase 3 immunotherapy clinical trials have recently been published, yet 5/6 did not meet approval by regulatory bodies. For the sixth, approval is uncertain. Trial failures result from multiple factors, ranging from intrinsic tumor biology to clinical trial design. Understanding the clinical and basic science of these 6 trials is compelled by other immunotherapies reaching the point of advanced phase 3 clinical trial testing. We need to understand more of the science in human GBMs in early trials: the "window of opportunity" design may not be best to understand complex changes brought about by immunotherapeutic perturbations of the GBM microenvironment. The convergence of increased safety of image-guided biopsies with "multi-omics" of small cell numbers now permits longitudinal sampling of tumor and biofluids to dissect the complex temporal changes in the GBM microenvironment as a function of the immunotherapy.

Enrichment of a neutrophil-like monocyte transcriptional state in glioblastoma myeloid suppressor cells

Glioblastomas (GBM) are lethal central nervous system cancers associated with tumor and systemic immunosuppression. Heterogeneous monocyte myeloid-derived suppressor cells (M-MDSC) are implicated in the altered immune response in GBM, but M-MDSC ontogeny and definitive phenotypic markers are unknown. Using single-cell transcriptomics, we revealed heterogeneity in blood M-MDSC from GBM subjects and an enrichment in a transcriptional state reminiscent of neutrophil-like monocytes (NeuMo), a newly described pathway of monopoiesis in mice. Human NeuMo gene expression and Neu-like deconvolution fraction algorithms were created to quantitate the enrichment of this transcriptional state in GBM subjects. NeuMo populations were also observed in M-MDSCs from lung and head and neck cancer subjects. Dexamethasone (DEX) and prednisone exposures increased the usage of Neu-like states, which were inversely associated with tumor purity and survival in isocitrate dehydrogenase wildtype (IDH WT) gliomas. Anti-inflammatory ZC3HA12/Regnase-1 transcripts were highly correlated with NeuMo expression in tumors and in blood M-MDSC from GBM, lung, and head and neck cancer subjects. Additional novel transcripts of immune-modulating proteins were identified. Collectively, these findings provide a framework for understanding the heterogeneity of M-MDSCs in GBM as cells with different clonal histories and may reshape approaches to study and therapeutically target these cells.

Roles of STAT3 in the pathogenesis and treatment of glioblastoma

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most malignant of astrocytomas mainly involving the cerebral hemispheres and the cerebral cortex. It is one of the fatal and refractory solid tumors, with a 5-year survival rate of merely 5% among the adults. IL6/JAK/STAT3 is an important signaling pathway involved in the pathogenesis and progression of GBM. The expression of STAT3 in GBM tissues is substantially higher than that of normal brain cells. The abnormal activation of STAT3 renders the tumor microenvironment of GBM immunosuppression. Besides, blocking the STAT3 pathway can effectively inhibit the growth and metastasis of GBM. On this basis, inhibition of STAT3 may be a new therapeutic approach for GBM, and the combination of STAT3 targeted therapy and conventional therapies may improve the current status of GBM treatment. This review summarized the roles of STAT3 in the pathogenesis of GBM and the feasibility of STAT3 for GBM target therapy.

DNA methylation as a pharmacodynamic marker of glucocorticoid response and glioma survival

Assessing individual responses to glucocorticoid drug therapies that compromise immune status and affect survival outcomes in neuro-oncology is a great challenge. Here we introduce a blood-based neutrophil dexamethasone methylation index (NDMI) that provides a measure of the epigenetic response of subjects to dexamethasone. This marker outperforms conventional approaches based on leukocyte composition as a marker of glucocorticoid response. The NDMI is associated with low CD4 T cells and the accumulation of monocytic myeloid-derived suppressor cells and also serves as prognostic factor in glioma survival. In a non-glioma population, the NDMI increases with a history of prednisone use. Therefore, it may also be informative in other conditions where glucocorticoids are employed. We conclude that DNA methylation remodeling within the peripheral immune compartment is a rich source of clinically relevant markers of glucocorticoid response.

The Effect of Dexamethasone on the Microenvironment and Efficacy of Checkpoint Inhibitors in Glioblastoma: A Systematic Review

Background

Checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapy has not proven clinically effective in glioblastoma. This lack of effectiveness may be partially attributable to the frequent administration of dexamethasone in glioblastoma patients. In this systematic review, we assess whether dexamethasone (1) affects the glioblastoma microenvironment and (2) interferes with checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapy efficacy in the treatment of glioblastoma.

Methods

PubMed and Embase were systematically searched for eligible articles published up to September 15, 2021. Both in vitro and in vivo preclinical studies, as well as clinical studies were selected. The following information was extracted from each study: tumor model, corticosteroid treatment, and effects on individual immune components or checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapy.

Results

Twenty-one preclinical studies in cellular glioma models (n = 10), animal glioma models (n = 6), and glioblastoma patient samples (n = 7), and 3 clinical studies were included. Preclinical studies show that dexamethasone decreases the presence of microglia and other macrophages as well as the number of T lymphocytes in both tumor tissue and periphery. Dexamethasone abrogates the antitumor effects of checkpoint inhibitors on T lymphocytes in preclinical studies. Although randomized studies directly addressing our research question are lacking, clinical studies suggest a negative association between corticosteroids and survival outcomes in glioblastoma patients receiving checkpoint inhibitors after adjustment for relevant prognostic factors.

Conclusions

Preclinical research shows that dexamethasone inhibits the antitumor immune response in glioma, thereby promoting a protumorigenic microenvironment. The efficacy of checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapy in glioblastoma patients may therefore be negatively affected by the use of dexamethasone. Future research could investigate the potential of edema-reducing alternatives to dexamethasone.

Myeloid Diagnostic and Prognostic Markers of Immune Suppression in the Blood of Glioma Patients

Background

Although gliomas are confined to the central nervous system, their negative influence over the immune system extends to peripheral circulation. The immune suppression exerted by myeloid cells can affect both response to therapy and disease outcome. We analyzed the expansion of several myeloid parameters in the blood of low- and high-grade gliomas and assessed their relevance as biomarkers of disease and clinical outcome.

Methods

Peripheral blood was obtained from 134 low- and high-grade glioma patients. CD14⁺, CD14⁺/p-STAT3⁺, CD14⁺/PD-L1⁺, CD15⁺ cells and four myeloid-derived suppressor cell (MDSC) subsets, were evaluated by flow cytometry. Arginase-1 (ARG1) quantity and activity was determined in the plasma. Multivariable logistic regression model was used to obtain a diagnostic score to discriminate glioma patients from healthy controls and between each glioma grade. A glioblastoma prognostic model was determined by multiple Cox regression using clinical and myeloid parameters.

Results

Changes in myeloid parameters associated with immune suppression allowed to define a diagnostic score calculating the risk of being a glioma patient. The same parameters, together with age, permit to calculate the risk score in differentiating each glioma grade. A prognostic model for glioblastoma patients stemmed out from a Cox multiple analysis, highlighting the role of MDSC, p-STAT3, and ARG1 activity together with clinical parameters in predicting patient’s outcome.

Conclusions

This work emphasizes the role of systemic immune suppression carried out by myeloid cells in gliomas. The identification of biomarkers associated with immune landscape, diagnosis, and outcome of glioblastoma patients lays the ground for their clinical use.

The Sledgehammer in Precision Medicine: Dexamethasone and Immunotherapeutic Treatment of Glioma

Understanding dexamethasone's effect on the immune microenvironment in glioma patients is of key importance. We performed a comprehensive literature review using the NCBI PubMed database for all articles meeting the following search criteria. ((dexamethasone[All Fields]) AND (glioma or glioblastoma)[Title/Abstract]) AND (immune or T cell or B cell or monocyte or neutrophil or macrophage). Forty-three manuscripts were deemed relevant to the topic at hand. Multiple clinical studies have linked dexamethasone use to decreased overall survival while preclinical studies in murine glioma models have demonstrated decreased tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes after dexamethasone administration.

Functional monocytic myeloid-derived suppressor cells increase in blood but not airways and predict COVID-19 severity

The immunopathology of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) remains enigmatic, causing immunodysregulation and T cell lymphopenia. Monocytic myeloid-derived suppressor cells (M-MDSCs) are T cell suppressors that expand in inflammatory conditions, but their role in acute respiratory infections remains unclear. We studied the blood and airways of patients with COVID-19 across disease severities at multiple time points. M-MDSC frequencies were elevated in blood but not in nasopharyngeal or endotracheal aspirates of patients with COVID-19 compared with healthy controls. M-MDSCs isolated from patients with COVID-19 suppressed T cell proliferation and IFN-γ production partly via an arginase 1-dependent (Arg-1-dependent) mechanism. Furthermore, patients showed increased Arg-1 and IL-6 plasma levels. Patients with COVID-19 had fewer T cells and downregulated expression of the CD3ζ chain. Ordinal regression showed that early M-MDSC frequency predicted subsequent disease severity. In conclusion, M-MDSCs expanded in the blood of patients with COVID-19, suppressed T cells, and were strongly associated with disease severity, indicating a role for M-MDSCs in the dysregulated COVID-19 immune response.

Explicating the Pivotal Pathogenic, Diagnostic, and Therapeutic Biomarker Potentials of Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells in Glioblastoma

Glioblastoma (GBM) is a malignant and aggressive central nervous tumor that originates from astrocytes. These pathogenic astrocytes divide rapidly and are sustained by enormous network of blood vessels via which they receive requisite nutrients. It well proven that GBM microenvironment is extremely infiltrated by myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs). MDSCs are a heterogeneous cluster of immature myeloid progenitors. They are key mediates in immune suppression as well as sustenance glioma growth, invasion, vascularization, and upsurge of regulatory T cells via different molecules. MDSCs are often elevated in the peripheral blood of patients with GBM. MDSCs in the peripheral blood as well as those infiltrating the GBM microenvironment correlated with poor prognosis. Also, an upsurge in circulating MDSCs in the peripheral blood of patients with GBM was observed compared to benign and grade I/II glioma patients. GBM patients with good prognosis presented with reduced MDSCs as well as augmented dendritic cells. Almost all chemotherapeutic medication for GBM has shown no obvious improvement in overall survival in patients. Nevertheless, low-dose chemotherapies were capable of suppressing the levels of MDSCs in GBM as well as multiple tumor models with metastatic to the brain. Thus, MDSCs are potential diagnostic as well as therapeutic biomarkers for GBM patients.

Modulating microenvironments for treating glioblastoma

Purpose of review

This review focuses on the development and progression of glioblastoma through the brain and glioma microenvironment. Specifically we highlight how the tumor microenvironment contributes to the hallmarks of cancer in hopes of offering novel therapeutic options and tools to target this microenvironment.

Recent findings

The hallmarks of cancer, which represent elements of cancers that contribute to the disease's malignancy, yet elements within the brain tumor microenvironment, such as other cellular types as well as biochemical and biophysical cues that can each uniquely affect tumor cells, have not been well-described in this context and serve as potential targets for modulation.

Summary

Here, we highlight how the brain tumor microenvironment contributes to the progression and therapeutic response of tumor cells. Specifically, we examine these contributions through the lens of Hanahan & Weinberg's Hallmarks of Cancer in order to identify potential novel targets within the brain that may offer a means to treat brain cancers, including the deadliest brain cancer, glioblastoma.

Inflammation and lymphocyte infiltration are associated with shorter survival in patients with high-grade glioma

Glioma represents a serious health burden in terms of morbidity and mortality. The prognostic significance of the lymphoid and myeloid infiltrates in glioma is not clearly determined. Moreover, the characterization of different leukocyte subsets in the tumor microenvironment relies mainly on immunohistochemistry observations, and data about their association with prognosis are contradictory. Here, we performed acomprehensive study of both the tumor-infiltrating and circulating immune compartments of patients with high-grade glioma. Nineteen tumor biopsies and 30 PBMC samples were analyzed by RNA sequencing. Validation was performed on The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) RNA sequencing data from glioma and on additional 39 tumor biopsies analyzed by flow cytometry. We identified prognostic tumor and peripheral immune signatures, which associate increased inflammation, immune infiltration and activation with shorter overall survival in high-grade glioma patients. Importantly, we confirmed our observations by flow cytometry analysis and validated the tumor-signature using the TCGA dataset. In addition, both tumor genotype and grade associated with the degree of glioma immune infiltration. Unlike in the majority of cancers, lymphocyte infiltration at the tumor site is anegative prognostic factor in glioma, suggesting the ambivalent pro-tumorigenic role of immune responses in glioma.

Biomarkers for immunotherapy for treatment of glioblastoma

Immunotherapy is a promising new therapeutic field that has demonstrated significant benefits in many solid-tumor malignancies, such as metastatic melanoma and non-small cell lung cancer. However, only a subset of these patients responds to treatment. Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common malignant primary brain tumor with a poor prognosis of 14.6 months and few treatment advancements over the last 10 years. There are many clinical trials testing immune therapies in GBM, but patient responses in these studies have been highly variable and a definitive benefit has yet to be identified. Biomarkers are used to quantify normal physiology and physiological response to therapies. When extensively characterized and vigorously validated, they have the potential to delineate responders from non-responders for patients treated with immunotherapy in malignancies outside of the central nervous system (CNS) as well as GBM. Due to the challenges of current modalities of radiographic diagnosis and disease monitoring, identification of new predictive and prognostic biomarkers to gauge response to immune therapy for patients with GBM will be critical in the precise treatment of this highly heterogenous disease. This review will explore the current and future strategies for the identification of potential biomarkers in the field of immunotherapy for GBM, as well as highlight major challenges of adapting immune therapy for CNS malignancies.

Targeting Myeloid Cells in Combination Treatments for Glioma and Other Tumors

Myeloid cells constitute a significant part of the immune system in the context of cancer, exhibiting both immunostimulatory effects, through their role as antigen presenting cells, and immunosuppressive effects, through their polarization to myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) and tumor-associated macrophages. While they are rarely sufficient to generate potent anti-tumor effects on their own, myeloid cells have the ability to interact with a variety of immune populations to aid in mounting an appropriate anti-tumor immune response. Therefore, myeloid therapies have gained momentum as a potential adjunct to current therapies such as immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), dendritic cell vaccines, oncolytic viruses, and traditional chemoradiation to enhance therapeutic response. In this review, we outline critical pathways involved in the recruitment of the myeloid population to the tumor microenvironment and in their polarization to immunostimulatory or immunosuppressive phenotypes. We also emphasize existing strategies of modulating myeloid recruitment and polarization to improve anti-tumor immune responses. We then summarize current preclinical and clinical studies that highlight treatment outcomes of combining myeloid targeted therapies with other immune-based and traditional therapies. Despite promising results from reports of limited clinical trials thus far, there remain challenges in optimally harnessing the myeloid compartment as an adjunct to enhancing anti-tumor immune responses. Further large Phase II and ultimately Phase III clinical trials are needed to elucidate the treatment benefit of combination therapies in the fight against cancer.