Identification of novel human leukocyte antigen-A*11:01-restricted cytotoxic T-lymphocyte epitopes derived from osteosarcoma antigen papillomavirus binding factor

Advancements in osteosarcoma management: integrating immune microenvironment insights with immunotherapeutic strategies

Osteosarcoma, a malignant bone tumor predominantly affecting children and adolescents, presents significant therapeutic challenges, particularly in metastatic or recurrent cases. Conventional surgical and chemotherapeutic approaches have achieved partial therapeutic efficacy; however, the prognosis for long-term survival remains bleak. Recent studies have highlighted the imperative for a comprehensive exploration of the osteosarcoma immune microenvironment, focusing on the integration of diverse immunotherapeutic strategies-including immune checkpoint inhibitors, tumor microenvironment modulators, cytokine therapies, tumor antigen-specific interventions, cancer vaccines, cellular therapies, and antibody-based treatments-that are directly pertinent to modulating this intricate microenvironment. By targeting tumor cells, modulating the tumor microenvironment, and activating host immune responses, these innovative approaches have demonstrated substantial potential in enhancing the effectiveness of osteosarcoma treatments. Although most of these novel strategies are still in research or clinical trial phases, they have already demonstrated significant potential for individuals with osteosarcoma, suggesting the possibility of developing new, more personalized and effective treatment options. This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the current advancements in osteosarcoma immunotherapy, emphasizing the significance of integrating various immunotherapeutic methods to optimize therapeutic outcomes. Additionally, it underscores the imperative for subsequent research to further investigate the intricate interactions between the tumor microenvironment and the immune system, aiming to devise more effective treatment strategies. The present review comprehensively addresses the landscape of osteosarcoma immunotherapy, delineating crucial scientific concerns and clinical challenges, thereby outlining potential research directions.

Metabolism and senescence in the immune microenvironment of osteosarcoma: focus on new therapeutic strategies

Osteosarcoma is a highly aggressive and metastatic malignant tumor. It has the highest incidence of all malignant bone tumors and is one of the most common solid tumors in children and adolescents. Osteosarcoma tissues are often richly infiltrated with inflammatory cells, including tumor-associated macrophages, lymphocytes, and dendritic cells, forming a complex immune microenvironment. The expression of immune checkpoint molecules is also high in osteosarcoma tissues, which may be involved in the mechanism of anti-tumor immune escape. Metabolism and senescence are closely related to the immune microenvironment, and disturbances in metabolism and senescence may have important effects on the immune microenvironment, thereby affecting immune cell function and immune responses. Metabolic modulation and anti-senescence therapy are gaining the attention of researchers as emerging immunotherapeutic strategies for tumors. Through an in-depth study of the interconnection of metabolism and anti- senescence in the tumor immune microenvironment and its regulatory mechanism on immune cell function and immune response, more precise therapeutic strategies can be developed. Combined with the screening and application of biomarkers, personalized treatment can be achieved to improve therapeutic efficacy and provide a scientific basis for clinical decision-making. Metabolic modulation and anti- senescence therapy can also be combined with other immunotherapy approaches, such as immune checkpoint inhibitors and tumor vaccines, to form a multi-level and multi-dimensional immunotherapy strategy, thus further enhancing the effect of immunotherapy. Multidisciplinary cooperation and integrated treatment can optimize the treatment plan and maximize the survival rate and quality of life of patients. Future research and clinical practice will further advance this field, promising more effective treatment options for patients with osteosarcoma. In this review, we reviewed metabolic and senescence characteristics in the immune microenvironment of osteosarcoma and related immunotherapies, and provide a reference for development of more personalized and effective therapeutic strategies.

Managing the immune microenvironment of osteosarcoma: the outlook for osteosarcoma treatment

Osteosarcoma, with poor survival after metastasis, is considered the most common primary bone cancer in adolescents. Notwithstanding the efforts of researchers, its five-year survival rate has only shown limited improvement, suggesting that existing therapeutic strategies are insufficient to meet clinical needs. Notably, immunotherapy has shown certain advantages over traditional tumor treatments in inhibiting metastasis. Therefore, managing the immune microenvironment in osteosarcoma can provide novel and valuable insight into the multifaceted mechanisms underlying the heterogeneity and progression of the disease. Additionally, given the advances in nanomedicine, there exist many advanced nanoplatforms for enhanced osteosarcoma immunotherapy with satisfactory physiochemical characteristics. Here, we review the classification, characteristics, and functions of the key components of the immune microenvironment in osteosarcoma. This review also emphasizes the application, progress, and prospects of osteosarcoma immunotherapy and discusses several nanomedicine-based options to enhance the efficiency of osteosarcoma treatment. Furthermore, we examine the disadvantages of standard treatments and present future perspectives for osteosarcoma immunotherapy.

Immunotherapeutic Strategies in the Management of Osteosarcoma

Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most common primary malignant bone cancer with a high tendency for metastasis. Although treatment strategies involving surgery and chemotherapy have improved outcomes for patients with OS, the prognosis of recurrent OS is quite unsatisfactory. Primary reasons leading to mortality in OS patients are resistance to currently used therapies and the subsequent lung metastasis. Immunotherapy, however, has been shown to be a promising therapeutic strategy against OS. As research progresses, immunotherapy is gradually becoming irreplaceable. This article provides a critical evaluation of several therapeutic strategies for OS including immunomodulation, vaccine therapy, and immunologic checkpoint blockade.

Novel Immunotherapies for Osteosarcoma

Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most common primary malignant bone sarcoma mainly affecting adolescents and young adults, which often progresses to pulmonary metastasis and leads to the death of OS patients. OS is characterized as a highly heterogeneous cancer type and the underlying pathologic mechanisms triggering tumor progress and metastasis are incompletely recognized. Surgery combined with neoadjuvant and postoperative chemotherapy has elevated 5-year survival to over 70% for patients with localized OS tumors, as opposed to only 20% of patients with recurrence and/or metastasis. Therefore, novel therapeutic strategies are needed to overcome the drawbacks of conventional treatments. Immunotherapy is gaining momentum for the treatment of OS with an increasing number of FDA-approved therapies for malignancies resistant to conventional therapies. Here, we review the OS tumor microenvironment and appraise the promising immunotherapies available in the management of OS.

The potential applications of T cell receptor (TCR)-like antibody in cervical cancer immunotherapy

Cervical cancer is ranked as the fourth most common cancer in women worldwide. Monoclonal antibody has created a new dimension in the immunotherapy of many diseases, including cervical cancer. The antibody's ability to target various aspects of cervical cancer (oncoviruses, oncoproteins, and signaling pathways) delivers a promising future for efficient immunotherapy. Besides, technologies such as hybridoma and phage display provide a fundamental platform for monoclonal antibody generation and create the opportunity to generate novel antibody classes including, T cell receptor (TCR)-like antibody. In this review, the current immunotherapy strategies for cervical cancer are presented. We have also proposed a novel concept of T cell receptor (TCR)-like antibody and its potential applications for enhancing cervical cancer therapeutics. Finally, the possible challenges in TCR-like antibody application for cervical cancer therapeutics have been addressed, and strategies to overcome the challenges have been highlighted to maximize the therapeutic benefits.

Electrostatic Complementarity of T-Cell Receptor-Alpha CDR3 Domains and Mutant Amino Acids Is Associated with Better Survival Rates for Sarcomas

While sarcoma immunology has advanced with regard to basic, and even some applied topics, this disease has not been subject to more recent immunogenomics approaches. Thus, we assessed the immune receptor recombinations available from the cancer genome atlas (TCGA) sarcoma database via tumor sample exome and RNASeq files. Results indicated that recovery of T-cell receptor-alpha recombination reads (TRA) correlated with a better survival rate, with the expression of T-cell biomarkers, and with tumor sample apoptosis signatures consistent with the longer patient survival times. Furthermore, samples representing TRA complementarity determining region-3 (CDR3) net charge per residue (NCPR) based complementarity with the corresponding sarcoma mutanome had a better survival rate, and more granzyme expression, than samples lacking such complementarity. By specifically using RNASeq-recovered TRA CDR3s and related NCPR assessments, three genes, TP53, ATRX, and RB1, were identified as being key components of the mutanome-based complementarity. Thus, these genes may represent key immune system targets for soft tissue sarcomas. Also, several key results from above were reproduced with a pediatric osteosarcoma dataset, work that led to identification of MUC6 mutations as potentially linked to a strong immune response. In sum, TRA CDR3s are likely to be important prognostic indicators, and possibly a beginning tool for immunotherapy development strategies, for adult and pediatric sarcomas.

Identification of novel human leukocyte antigen-A*11:01-restricted cytotoxic T-lymphocyte epitopes derived from osteosarcoma antigen papillomavirus binding factor

Osteosarcoma is the most common malignancy of bone that affects young people. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy and surgery have significantly improved the prognosis. However, the prognosis of non-responders to chemotherapy is still poor. To develop peptide-based immunotherapy for osteosarcoma, we previously identified CTL epitopes derived from papillomavirus binding factor (PBF) in the context of human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-A2, HLA-A24 and HLA-B55. In the present study, we identified two novel CTL epitopes, QVT (QVTVWLLEQK) and LSA (LSALPPPLHK), in the context of HLA-A11 using a sequence of screenings based on the predicted affinity of peptides, in vitro folding ability of peptide/HLA-A11 complex, reactivity of peptide/HLA-A11 tetramer and interferon (IFN)-γ production of T cells that was induced by mixed lymphocyte peptide culture under a limiting dilution condition. CTL clones directed to QVT and LSA peptides showed specific cytotoxicity against HLA-A11+ PBF+ osteosarcoma (HOS-A11) cells. In contrast, another epitope, ASV (ASVLSRRLGK), could highly induce cognate tetramer-positive CTL. This might be because the ASV peptide mimics the peptide ASV (R6Q) (ASVLSQRLGK) derived from bacterial polypeptides, ROK family proteins. However, ASV-induced CTL did not show cytokine production against the cognate peptide. In conclusion, the CTL epitopes QVT and LSA peptides might be useful for the development of immunotherapy targeting PBF for patients with osteosarcoma.