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Elebo N, Abdel-Shafy EA, Omoshoro-Jones JAO, Nsingwane Z, Hussein AAA, Smith M, Candy G, Cacciatore S, Fru P, Nweke EE. Comparative immune profiling of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma progression among South African patients. BMC Cancer 2024; 24:809. [PMID: 38973003 PMCID: PMC11229237 DOI: 10.1186/s12885-024-12595-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2023] [Accepted: 07/02/2024] [Indexed: 07/09/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is an aggressive cancer characterized by an immunosuppressive microenvironment. Patients from specific ethnicities and population groups have poorer prognoses than others. Therefore, a better understanding of the immune landscape in such groups is necessary for disease elucidation, predicting patient outcomes and therapeutic targeting. This study investigated the expression of circulating key immune cell markers in South African PDAC patients of African ancestry. METHODS Blood samples were obtained from a total of 6 healthy volunteers (HC), 6 Chronic Pancreatitis (CP) and 34 PDAC patients consisting of 22 resectable (RPC), 8 locally advanced (LAPC) and 4 metastatic (MPC). Real-time Quantitative Polymerase Chain reactions (RT-qPCR), Metabolomics, Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA), Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS), and Immunophenotyping assays were conducted. Statistical analysis was conducted in R (v 4.3.2). Additional analysis of single-cell RNA data from 20 patients (16 PDAC and 4 controls) was conducted to interrogate the distribution of T-cell and Natural Killer cell populations. RESULTS Granulocyte and neutrophil levels were significantly elevated while lymphocytes decreased with PDAC severity. The total percentages of CD3 T-cell subpopulations (helper and double negative T-cells) decreased when compared to HC. Although both NK (p = 0.014) and NKT (p < 0.001) cell levels increased as the disease progressed, their subsets: NK CD56dimCD16- (p = 0.024) and NKTs CD56+ (p = 0.008) cell levels reduced significantly. Of note is the negative association of NK CD56dimCD16- (p < 0.001) cell levels with survival time. The gene expression analyses showed no statistically significant correlation when comparing the PDAC groups with the controls. The inflammatory status of PDAC was assessed by ROS levels of serum which were elevated in CP (p = 0.025), (RPC (p = 0.003) and LAPC (p = 0.008)) while no significant change was observed in MPC, compared to the HC group. ROS was shown to be positively correlated with GlycA (R = 0.45, p = 0.0096). Single-cell analyses showed a significant difference in the ratio of NKT cells per total cell counts in LAPC (p < 0.001) and MPC (p < 0.001) groups compared with HC, confirming observations in our sample group. CONCLUSION The expression of these immune cell markers observed in this pilot study provides insight into their potential roles in tumour progression in the patient group and suggests their potential utility in the development of immunotherapeutic strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nnenna Elebo
- Department of Surgery, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2193, South Africa
- Bioinformatics Unit, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Observatory, Cape Town, 7925, South Africa
| | - Ebtesam A Abdel-Shafy
- Bioinformatics Unit, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Observatory, Cape Town, 7925, South Africa
- National Research Centre, Cairo, Egypt
| | - Jones A O Omoshoro-Jones
- Department of Surgery, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2193, South Africa
- Hepatopancreatobiliary Unit, Department of Surgery, Chris Hani-Baragwanath Academic Hospital, Soweto Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Zanele Nsingwane
- Department of Surgery, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2193, South Africa
| | - Ahmed A A Hussein
- Bioinformatics Unit, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Observatory, Cape Town, 7925, South Africa
- Theodore Bilharz Research Institute, Giza, Egypt
| | - Martin Smith
- Department of Surgery, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2193, South Africa
- Hepatopancreatobiliary Unit, Department of Surgery, Chris Hani-Baragwanath Academic Hospital, Soweto Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Geoffrey Candy
- Department of Surgery, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2193, South Africa
| | - Stefano Cacciatore
- Bioinformatics Unit, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Observatory, Cape Town, 7925, South Africa
| | - Pascaline Fru
- Department of Surgery, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2193, South Africa
| | - Ekene Emmanuel Nweke
- Department of Surgery, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2193, South Africa.
- Department of Life and Consumer Sciences, College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, University of South Africa, Florida, Roodepoort, South Africa.
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Ren M, Zhang J, Zong R, Sun H. A Novel Pancreatic Cancer Hypoxia Status Related Gene Signature for Prognosis and Therapeutic Responses. Mol Biotechnol 2024; 66:1684-1703. [PMID: 37405638 DOI: 10.1007/s12033-023-00807-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2023] [Accepted: 06/26/2023] [Indexed: 07/06/2023]
Abstract
Pancreatic cancer (PAC) is a highly fatal and aggressive type of cancer. Hypoxia is a common feature of PAC. The aim of this study was to develop a hypoxia status-related prognostic model for predicting the survival outcomes in PAC. The data sets of PAC from The Cancer Genome Atlas and the International Cancer Genome Consortium were used to construct and validate the signature. A 6 hypoxia status-related differential expression genes prognostic model for predicting the survival outcomes was established. The Kaplan-Meier analysis and Received operating characteristic curve indicated the good performance of the signature at predicting overall survival. Univariate and Multivariate Cox regression revealed that the signature was an independent prognostic factor in PAC. Weighted Gene Co-expression Network Analysis and immune infiltration analysis indicated that Immune-related pathways and immune cell infiltration was mostly enriched in the low-risk group, which presented a better prognosis. We also evaluated the predictive of the signature for immunotherapy and chemoradiotherapy. Risk gene LY6D may be a potential prognostic predictor of PAC. This model can be used as an independent prognostic factor for predicting clinical outcomes and a possible classifier for response to chemotherapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Min Ren
- College of Life Science, Yan'an University, Yan'an, 716000, China.
| | - Jianing Zhang
- College of Life Science, Yan'an University, Yan'an, 716000, China
| | - Rongrong Zong
- College of Life Science, Yan'an University, Yan'an, 716000, China
| | - Huiru Sun
- College of Life Science, Yan'an University, Yan'an, 716000, China.
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Hsu SK, Chou CK, Lin IL, Chang WT, Kuo IY, Chiu CC. Deubiquitinating enzymes: potential regulators of the tumor microenvironment and implications for immune evasion. Cell Commun Signal 2024; 22:259. [PMID: 38715050 PMCID: PMC11075295 DOI: 10.1186/s12964-024-01633-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2024] [Accepted: 04/24/2024] [Indexed: 05/12/2024] Open
Abstract
Ubiquitination and deubiquitination are important forms of posttranslational modification that govern protein homeostasis. Deubiquitinating enzymes (DUBs), a protein superfamily consisting of more than 100 members, deconjugate ubiquitin chains from client proteins to regulate cellular homeostasis. However, the dysregulation of DUBs is reportedly associated with several diseases, including cancer. The tumor microenvironment (TME) is a highly complex entity comprising diverse noncancerous cells (e.g., immune cells and stromal cells) and the extracellular matrix (ECM). Since TME heterogeneity is closely related to tumorigenesis and immune evasion, targeting TME components has recently been considered an attractive therapeutic strategy for restoring antitumor immunity. Emerging studies have revealed the involvement of DUBs in immune modulation within the TME, including the regulation of immune checkpoints and immunocyte infiltration and function, which renders DUBs promising for potent cancer immunotherapy. Nevertheless, the roles of DUBs in the crosstalk between tumors and their surrounding components have not been comprehensively reviewed. In this review, we discuss the involvement of DUBs in the dynamic interplay between tumors, immune cells, and stromal cells and illustrate how dysregulated DUBs facilitate immune evasion and promote tumor progression. We also summarize potential small molecules that target DUBs to alleviate immunosuppression and suppress tumorigenesis. Finally, we discuss the prospects and challenges regarding the targeting of DUBs in cancer immunotherapeutics and several urgent problems that warrant further investigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sheng-Kai Hsu
- Department of Biotechnology, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, 807, Taiwan
| | - Chon-Kit Chou
- State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Science, University of Macau, Macau SAR, 999078, P.R. China
| | - I-Ling Lin
- Department of Medical Laboratory Science and Biotechnology, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, 807, Taiwan
| | - Wen-Tsan Chang
- Division of General and Digestive Surgery, Department of Surgery, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, 807, Taiwan
- Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, 807, Taiwan
- Center for Cancer Research, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, 807, Taiwan
| | - I-Ying Kuo
- Department of Biotechnology, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, 807, Taiwan.
| | - Chien-Chih Chiu
- Department of Biotechnology, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, 807, Taiwan.
- Center for Cancer Research, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, 807, Taiwan.
- Department of Biological Sciences, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung, 804, Taiwan.
- Department of Medical Research, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, 807, Taiwan.
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4
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Schmidt P, Lindemeyer J, Raut P, Schütz M, Saniternik S, Jönsson J, Endepols H, Fischer T, Quaas A, Schlößer HA, Thelen M, Grüll H. Multiparametric Characterization of the DSL-6A/C1 Pancreatic Cancer Model in Rats. Cancers (Basel) 2024; 16:1535. [PMID: 38672617 PMCID: PMC11049193 DOI: 10.3390/cancers16081535] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2024] [Revised: 04/04/2024] [Accepted: 04/12/2024] [Indexed: 04/28/2024] Open
Abstract
The DSL-6A/C1 murine pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) tumor model was established in Lewis rats and characterized through a comprehensive multiparametric analysis to compare it to other preclinical tumor models and explore potential diagnostic and therapeutical targets. DSL-6A/C1 tumors were histologically analyzed to elucidate PDAC features. The tumor microenvironment was studied for immune cell prevalence. Multiparametric MRI and PET imaging were utilized to characterize tumors, and 68Ga-FAPI-46-targeting cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), were used to validate the histological findings. The histology confirmed typical PDAC characteristics, such as malformed pancreatic ductal malignant cells and CAFs. Distinct immune landscapes were identified, revealing an increased presence of CD8+ T cells and a decreased CD4+ T cell fraction within the tumor microenvironment. PET imaging with 68Ga-FAPI tracers exhibited strong tracer uptake in tumor tissues. The MRI parameters indicated increasing intralesional necrosis over time and elevated contrast media uptake in vital tumor areas. We have demonstrated that the DSL-6A/C1 tumor model, particularly due to its high tumorigenicity, tumor size, and 68Ga-FAPI-46 sensitivity, is a suitable alternative to established small animal models for many forms of preclinical analyses and therapeutic studies of PDAC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick Schmidt
- Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital of Cologne, Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University of Cologne, 50937 Cologne, Germany; (P.S.); (J.L.); (P.R.); (M.S.); (S.S.); (J.J.)
| | - Johannes Lindemeyer
- Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital of Cologne, Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University of Cologne, 50937 Cologne, Germany; (P.S.); (J.L.); (P.R.); (M.S.); (S.S.); (J.J.)
| | - Pranali Raut
- Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital of Cologne, Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University of Cologne, 50937 Cologne, Germany; (P.S.); (J.L.); (P.R.); (M.S.); (S.S.); (J.J.)
| | - Markus Schütz
- Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital of Cologne, Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University of Cologne, 50937 Cologne, Germany; (P.S.); (J.L.); (P.R.); (M.S.); (S.S.); (J.J.)
- Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Department of Chemistry, University of Cologne, 50937 Cologne, Germany
| | - Sven Saniternik
- Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital of Cologne, Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University of Cologne, 50937 Cologne, Germany; (P.S.); (J.L.); (P.R.); (M.S.); (S.S.); (J.J.)
- Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Department of Chemistry, University of Cologne, 50937 Cologne, Germany
| | - Jannika Jönsson
- Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital of Cologne, Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University of Cologne, 50937 Cologne, Germany; (P.S.); (J.L.); (P.R.); (M.S.); (S.S.); (J.J.)
| | - Heike Endepols
- Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital of Cologne, Institute of Radiochemistry and Experimental Molecular Imaging, University of Cologne, 50937 Cologne, Germany;
- Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital of Cologne, Department of Nuclear Medicine, University of Cologne, 50937 Cologne, Germany;
- Nuclear Chemistry, Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-5), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany
| | - Thomas Fischer
- Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital of Cologne, Department of Nuclear Medicine, University of Cologne, 50937 Cologne, Germany;
| | - Alexander Quaas
- Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital of Cologne, Institute of Pathology, University of Cologne, 50937 Cologne, Germany;
| | - Hans Anton Schlößer
- Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, 50937 Cologne, Germany; (H.A.S.); (M.T.)
- Department of General, Visceral, Cancer and Transplantation Surgery, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, 50937 Cologne, Germany
| | - Martin Thelen
- Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, 50937 Cologne, Germany; (H.A.S.); (M.T.)
| | - Holger Grüll
- Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital of Cologne, Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University of Cologne, 50937 Cologne, Germany; (P.S.); (J.L.); (P.R.); (M.S.); (S.S.); (J.J.)
- Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Department of Chemistry, University of Cologne, 50937 Cologne, Germany
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5
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Li Z, Mo F, Guo K, Ren S, Wang Y, Chen Y, Schwartz PB, Richmond N, Liu F, Ronnekleiv-Kelly SM, Hu Q. Nanodrug-bacteria conjugates-mediated oncogenic collagen depletion enhances immune checkpoint blockade therapy against pancreatic cancer. MED 2024; 5:348-367.e7. [PMID: 38521069 DOI: 10.1016/j.medj.2024.02.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2023] [Revised: 11/15/2023] [Accepted: 02/27/2024] [Indexed: 03/25/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) cancer cells specifically produce abnormal oncogenic collagen to bind with integrin α3β1 receptor and activate the downstream focal adhesion kinase (FAK), protein kinase B (AKT), and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway. Collectively, this promotes immunosuppression and tumor proliferation and restricts the response rate of clinical cancer immunotherapies. METHODS Here, by leveraging the hypoxia tropism and excellent motility of the probiotic Escherichia coli strain Nissle 1917 (ECN), we developed nanodrug-bacteria conjugates to penetrate the extracellular matrix (ECM) and shuttle the surface-conjugated protein cages composed of collagenases and anti-programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) antibodies to PDAC tumor parenchyma. FINDINGS We found the oncogenic collagen expression in human pancreatic cancer patients and demonstrated its interaction with integrin α3β1. We proved that reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the microenvironment of PDAC triggered collagenase release to degrade oncogenic collagen and block integrin α3β1-FAK signaling pathway, thus overcoming the immunosuppression and synergizing with anti-PD-L1 immunotherapy. CONCLUSIONS Collectively, our study highlights the significance of oncogenic collagen in PDAC immunotherapy, and consequently, we developed a therapeutic strategy that can deplete oncogenic collagen to synergize with immune checkpoint blockade for enhanced PDAC treatment efficacy. FUNDING This work was supported by the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center Research Collaborative and Pancreas Cancer Research Task Force, UWCCC Transdisciplinary Cancer Immunology-Immunotherapy Pilot Project, and the start-up package from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (to Q.H.).
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhaoting Li
- Pharmaceutical Sciences Division, School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53705, USA; Carbone Cancer Center, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53705, USA; Wisconsin Center for NanoBioSystems, School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53705, USA
| | - Fanyi Mo
- Pharmaceutical Sciences Division, School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53705, USA
| | - Kai Guo
- Department of Radiology, Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210029, China
| | - Shuai Ren
- Department of Radiology, Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210029, China
| | - Yixin Wang
- Pharmaceutical Sciences Division, School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53705, USA; Carbone Cancer Center, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53705, USA; Wisconsin Center for NanoBioSystems, School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53705, USA
| | - Yu Chen
- Pharmaceutical Sciences Division, School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53705, USA; Carbone Cancer Center, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53705, USA; Wisconsin Center for NanoBioSystems, School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53705, USA
| | - Patrick B Schwartz
- Department of Surgery, Division of Surgical Oncology, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53705, USA
| | - Nathaniel Richmond
- Pharmaceutical Sciences Division, School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53705, USA
| | - Fengyuan Liu
- Pharmaceutical Sciences Division, School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53705, USA
| | - Sean M Ronnekleiv-Kelly
- Carbone Cancer Center, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53705, USA; Department of Surgery, Division of Surgical Oncology, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53705, USA
| | - Quanyin Hu
- Pharmaceutical Sciences Division, School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53705, USA; Carbone Cancer Center, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53705, USA; Wisconsin Center for NanoBioSystems, School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53705, USA.
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6
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Abe S, Masuda A, Matsumoto T, Inoue J, Toyama H, Sakai A, Kobayashi T, Tanaka T, Tsujimae M, Yamakawa K, Gonda M, Masuda S, Uemura H, Kohashi S, Inomata N, Nagao K, Harada Y, Miki M, Irie Y, Juri N, Ko T, Yokotani Y, Oka Y, Ota S, Kanzawa M, Itoh T, Imai T, Fukumoto T, Hara E, Kodama Y. Impact of intratumoral microbiome on tumor immunity and prognosis in human pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. J Gastroenterol 2024; 59:250-262. [PMID: 38242997 PMCID: PMC10904450 DOI: 10.1007/s00535-023-02069-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2023] [Accepted: 12/17/2023] [Indexed: 01/21/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Recent evidence suggests that the presence of microbiome within human pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) tissue potentially influences cancer progression and prognosis. However, the significance of tumor-resident microbiome remains unclear. We aimed to elucidate the impact of intratumoral bacteria on the pathophysiology and prognosis of human PDAC. METHODS The presence of intratumoral bacteria was assessed in 162 surgically resected PDACs using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and in situ hybridization (ISH) targeting 16S rRNA. The intratumoral microbiome was explored by 16S metagenome sequencing using DNA extracted from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues. The profile of intratumoral bacteria was compared with clinical information, pathological findings including tumor-infiltrating T cells, tumor-associated macrophage, fibrosis, and alterations in four main driver genes (KRAS, TP53, CDKN2A/p16, SMAD4) in tumor genomes. RESULTS The presence of intratumoral bacteria was confirmed in 52 tumors (32%) using both qPCR and ISH. The 16S metagenome sequencing revealed characteristic bacterial profiles within these tumors, including phyla such as Proteobacteria and Firmicutes. Comparison of bacterial profiles between cases with good and poor prognosis revealed a significant positive correlation between a shorter survival time and the presence of anaerobic bacteria such as Bacteroides, Lactobacillus, and Peptoniphilus. The abundance of these bacteria was correlated with a decrease in the number of tumor-infiltrating T cells positive for CD4, CD8, and CD45RO. CONCLUSIONS Intratumoral infection of anaerobic bacteria such as Bacteroides, Lactobacillus, and Peptoniphilus is correlated with the suppressed anti-PDAC immunity and poor prognosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shohei Abe
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan
| | - Atsuhiro Masuda
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan.
| | - Tomonori Matsumoto
- Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan.
| | - Jun Inoue
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan
| | - Hirochika Toyama
- Division of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan
| | - Arata Sakai
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan
| | - Takashi Kobayashi
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan
| | - Takeshi Tanaka
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan
| | - Masahiro Tsujimae
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan
| | - Kohei Yamakawa
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan
| | - Masanori Gonda
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan
| | - Shigeto Masuda
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan
| | - Hisahiro Uemura
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan
| | - Shinya Kohashi
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan
| | - Noriko Inomata
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan
| | - Kae Nagao
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan
| | - Yoshiyuki Harada
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan
| | - Mika Miki
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan
| | - Yosuke Irie
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan
| | - Noriko Juri
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan
| | - Testuhisa Ko
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan
| | - Yusuke Yokotani
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan
| | - Yuki Oka
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan
| | - Shogo Ota
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan
| | - Maki Kanzawa
- Division of Diagnostic Pathology, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan
| | - Tomoo Itoh
- Division of Diagnostic Pathology, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan
| | - Toshio Imai
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan
| | - Takumi Fukumoto
- Division of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan
| | - Eiji Hara
- Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan
| | - Yuzo Kodama
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan
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7
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Horvat NK, Karpovsky I, Phillips M, Wyatt MM, Hall MA, Herting CJ, Hammons J, Mahdi Z, Moffitt RA, Paulos CM, Lesinski GB. Clinically relevant orthotopic pancreatic cancer models for adoptive T cell transfer therapy. J Immunother Cancer 2024; 12:e008086. [PMID: 38191243 PMCID: PMC10806555 DOI: 10.1136/jitc-2023-008086] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 12/18/2023] [Indexed: 01/10/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is an aggressive tumor. Prognosis is poor and survival is low in patients diagnosed with this disease, with a survival rate of ~12% at 5 years. Immunotherapy, including adoptive T cell transfer therapy, has not impacted the outcomes in patients with PDAC, due in part to the hostile tumor microenvironment (TME) which limits T cell trafficking and persistence. We posit that murine models serve as useful tools to study the fate of T cell therapy. Currently, genetically engineered mouse models (GEMMs) for PDAC are considered a "gold-standard" as they recapitulate many aspects of human disease. However, these models have limitations, including marked tumor variability across individual mice and the cost of colony maintenance. METHODS Using flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry, we characterized the immunological features and trafficking patterns of adoptively transferred T cells in orthotopic PDAC (C57BL/6) models using two mouse cell lines, KPC-Luc and MT-5, isolated from C57BL/6 KPC-GEMM (KrasLSL-G12D/+p53-/- and KrasLSL-G12D/+p53LSL-R172H/+, respectively). RESULTS The MT-5 orthotopic model best recapitulates the cellular and stromal features of the TME in the PDAC GEMM. In contrast, far more host immune cells infiltrate the KPC-Luc tumors, which have less stroma, although CD4+ and CD8+ T cells were similarly detected in the MT-5 tumors compared with KPC-GEMM in mice. Interestingly, we found that chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells redirected to recognize mesothelin on these tumors that signal via CD3ζ and 41BB (Meso-41BBζ-CAR T cells) infiltrated the tumors of mice bearing stroma-devoid KPC-Luc orthotopic tumors, but not MT-5 tumors. CONCLUSIONS Our data establish for the first time a reproducible and realistic clinical system useful for modeling stroma-rich and stroma-devoid PDAC tumors. These models shall serve an indepth study of how to overcome barriers that limit antitumor activity of adoptively transferred T cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natalie K Horvat
- Department of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology and Immunology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Isaac Karpovsky
- Department of Hematology and Oncology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Maggie Phillips
- Department of Hematology and Oncology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Megan M Wyatt
- Department of Surgery, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Emory University Winship Cancer Institute, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Margaret A Hall
- Department of Hematology and Oncology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Cameron J Herting
- Department of Hematology and Oncology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Jacklyn Hammons
- Department of Hematology and Oncology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Zaid Mahdi
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Richard A Moffitt
- Department of Hematology and Oncology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Chrystal M Paulos
- Department of Surgery, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Emory University Winship Cancer Institute, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Gregory B Lesinski
- Department of Hematology and Oncology, Emory University Winship Cancer Institute, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
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8
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Timmer FEF, Geboers B, Scheffer HJ, Bakker J, Ruarus AH, Dijkstra M, van der Lei S, Boon R, Nieuwenhuizen S, van den Bemd BAT, Schouten EAC, van den Tol PM, Puijk RS, de Vries JJJ, de Gruijl TD, Meijerink MR. Tissue Resistance Decrease during Irreversible Electroporation of Pancreatic Cancer as a Biomarker for the Adaptive Immune Response and Survival. J Vasc Interv Radiol 2023; 34:1777-1784.e4. [PMID: 37391072 DOI: 10.1016/j.jvir.2023.06.027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2022] [Revised: 06/07/2023] [Accepted: 06/20/2023] [Indexed: 07/02/2023] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE To correlate irreversible electroporation (IRE) procedural resistance changes with survival outcomes and the IRE-induced systemic immune response in patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer (LAPC). MATERIALS AND METHODS Data on IRE procedural tissue resistance (R) features and survival outcomes were collected from patients with LAPC treated within the context of 2 prospective clinical trials in a single tertiary center. Preprocedural and postprocedural peripheral blood samples were prospectively collected for immune monitoring. The change (ie, decrease) in R during the first 10 test pulses (ΔR10p) and during the total procedure (ΔRtotal) were calculated. Patients were divided in 2 groups on the basis of the median change in R (large ΔR vs small ΔR) and compared for differences in overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival and immune cell subsets. RESULTS A total of 54 patients were included; of these, 20 underwent immune monitoring. Linear regression modeling showed that the first 10 test pulses reflected the change in tissue resistance during the total procedure appropriately (P < .001; R2 = 0.91). A large change in tissue resistance significantly correlated with a better OS (P = .026) and longer time to disease progression (P = .045). Furthermore, a large change in tissue resistance was associated with CD8+ T cell activation through significant upregulation of Ki-67+ (P = .02) and PD-1+ (P = .047). Additionally, this subgroup demonstrated significantly increased expression of CD80 on conventional dendritic cells (cDC1; P = .027) and PD-L1 on immunosuppressive myeloid-derived suppressor cells (P = .039). CONCLUSIONS IRE procedural resistance changes may serve as a biomarker for survival and IRE-induced systemic CD8+ T cell and cDC1 activation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Florentine E F Timmer
- Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Amsterdam University Medical Centers (UMC), location Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Cancer Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Bart Geboers
- Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Amsterdam University Medical Centers (UMC), location Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Cancer Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
| | - Hester J Scheffer
- Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Amsterdam University Medical Centers (UMC), location Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Cancer Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Joyce Bakker
- Department of Medical Oncology, Amsterdam UMC, location Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Cancer Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Alette H Ruarus
- Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Amsterdam University Medical Centers (UMC), location Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Cancer Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Madelon Dijkstra
- Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Amsterdam University Medical Centers (UMC), location Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Cancer Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Susan van der Lei
- Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Amsterdam University Medical Centers (UMC), location Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Cancer Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Rianne Boon
- Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Amsterdam University Medical Centers (UMC), location Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Cancer Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Sanne Nieuwenhuizen
- Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Amsterdam University Medical Centers (UMC), location Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Cancer Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Bente A T van den Bemd
- Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Amsterdam University Medical Centers (UMC), location Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Cancer Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Evelien A C Schouten
- Netherlands Cancer Institute, Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | | | - Robbert S Puijk
- Cancer Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Onze Lieve Vrouwen Gasthuis, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Jan J J de Vries
- Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Amsterdam University Medical Centers (UMC), location Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Cancer Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Tanja D de Gruijl
- Department of Medical Oncology, Amsterdam UMC, location Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Cancer Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Martijn R Meijerink
- Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Amsterdam University Medical Centers (UMC), location Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Cancer Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
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9
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Brummer C, Pukrop T, Wiskemann J, Bruss C, Ugele I, Renner K. Can Exercise Enhance the Efficacy of Checkpoint Inhibition by Modulating Anti-Tumor Immunity? Cancers (Basel) 2023; 15:4668. [PMID: 37760634 PMCID: PMC10526963 DOI: 10.3390/cancers15184668] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2023] [Revised: 09/11/2023] [Accepted: 09/17/2023] [Indexed: 09/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Immune checkpoint inhibition (ICI) has revolutionized cancer therapy. However, response to ICI is often limited to selected subsets of patients or not durable. Tumors that are non-responsive to checkpoint inhibition are characterized by low anti-tumoral immune cell infiltration and a highly immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. Exercise is known to promote immune cell circulation and improve immunosurveillance. Results of recent studies indicate that physical activity can induce mobilization and redistribution of immune cells towards the tumor microenvironment (TME) and therefore enhance anti-tumor immunity. This suggests a favorable impact of exercise on the efficacy of ICI. Our review delivers insight into possible molecular mechanisms of the crosstalk between muscle, tumor, and immune cells. It summarizes current data on exercise-induced effects on anti-tumor immunity and ICI in mice and men. We consider preclinical and clinical study design challenges and discuss the role of cancer type, exercise frequency, intensity, time, and type (FITT) and immune sensitivity as critical factors for exercise-induced impact on cancer immunosurveillance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christina Brummer
- Department of Internal Medicine III, Hematology and Oncology, University Hospital Regensburg, 93053 Regensburg, Germany;
- Comprehensive Cancer Center Ostbayern (CCCO), 93053 Regensburg, Germany
| | - Tobias Pukrop
- Department of Internal Medicine III, Hematology and Oncology, University Hospital Regensburg, 93053 Regensburg, Germany;
- Comprehensive Cancer Center Ostbayern (CCCO), 93053 Regensburg, Germany
- Bavarian Cancer Research Center (BZKF), 93053 Regensburg, Germany
| | - Joachim Wiskemann
- National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), Heidelberg University Hospital, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany;
| | - Christina Bruss
- Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, University Medical Center Regensburg, 93053 Regensburg, Germany;
| | - Ines Ugele
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University Hospital Regensburg, 93053 Regensburg, Germany; (I.U.); (K.R.)
| | - Kathrin Renner
- Comprehensive Cancer Center Ostbayern (CCCO), 93053 Regensburg, Germany
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University Hospital Regensburg, 93053 Regensburg, Germany; (I.U.); (K.R.)
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10
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An YF, Pu N, Jia JB, Wang WQ, Liu L. Therapeutic advances targeting tumor angiogenesis in pancreatic cancer: Current dilemmas and future directions. Biochim Biophys Acta Rev Cancer 2023; 1878:188958. [PMID: 37495194 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbcan.2023.188958] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2023] [Revised: 07/20/2023] [Accepted: 07/20/2023] [Indexed: 07/28/2023]
Abstract
Pancreatic cancer (PC) is one of the most lethal malignancies, which is generally resistant to various treatments. Tumor angiogenesis is deemed to be a pivotal rate-determining step for tumor growth and metastasis. Therefore, anti-angiogenetic therapy is a rational strategy to treat various cancers. However, numerous clinical trials on anti-angiogenetic therapies for PC are overwhelmingly disappointing. The unique characteristics of tumor blood vessels in PC, which are desperately lacking and highly compressed by the dense desmoplastic stroma, are reconsidered to explore some optimized strategies. In this review, we mainly focus on its specific characteristics of tumor blood vessels, discuss the current dilemmas of anti-angiogenic therapy in PC and their underlying mechanisms. Furthermore, we point out the future directions, including remodeling the abnormal vasculature or even reshaping the whole tumor microenvironment in which they are embedded to improve tumor microcirculation, and then create therapeutic vulnerabilities to the current available therapeutic strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yan-Fei An
- Department of Pancreatic Surgery, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China; Department of Basic Medicine, Chang Zhi Medical College, Changzhi 046000,China; Department of Basic Medicine and Institute of Liver Diseases, Shan Xi Medical University, Taiyuan 030000, China
| | - Ning Pu
- Department of Pancreatic Surgery, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China; Cancer Center, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China; Department of General Surgery, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
| | - Jin-Bin Jia
- Department of Basic Medicine and Institute of Liver Diseases, Shan Xi Medical University, Taiyuan 030000, China.
| | - Wen-Quan Wang
- Department of Pancreatic Surgery, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China; Cancer Center, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China; Department of General Surgery, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China.
| | - Liang Liu
- Department of Pancreatic Surgery, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China; Cancer Center, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China; Department of General Surgery, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China.
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11
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Ren M, Feng L, Zong R, Sun H. Novel prognostic gene signature for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma based on hypoxia. World J Surg Oncol 2023; 21:257. [PMID: 37605192 PMCID: PMC10464224 DOI: 10.1186/s12957-023-03142-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2023] [Accepted: 08/08/2023] [Indexed: 08/23/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Currently, there is lack of marker to accurately assess the prognosis of patients diagnosed with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). This study aims to establish a hypoxia-related risk scoring model that can effectively predict the prognosis and chemotherapy outcomes of PDAC patients. METHODS Using unsupervised consensus clustering algorithms, we comprehensively analyzed The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) data to identify two distinct hypoxia clusters and used the weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) to examine gene sets significantly associated with these hypoxia clusters. Then univariate Cox regression, the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) Cox regression and multivariate Cox regression were used to construct a signature and its efficacy was evaluated using the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) PDAC cohort. Further, the correlation between the risk scores obtained from the signature and carious clinical, pathological, immunophenotype, and immunoinfiltration factors as well as the differences in immunotherapy potential and response to common chemotherapy drugs between high-risk and low-risk groups were evaluated. RESULTS From a total of 8 significantly related modules and 4423 genes, 5 hypoxia-related signature genes were identified to construct a risk model. Further analysis revealed that the overall survival rate (OS) of patients in the low-risk group was significantly higher than the high-risk group. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that the risk scoring signature was an independent factor for prognosis prediction. Analysis of immunocyte infiltration and immunophenotype showed that the immune score and the anticancer immune response in the high-risk were significantly lower than that in the low-risk group. CONCLUSION The constructed hypoxia-associated prognostic signature demonstrated could be used as a potential risk classifier for PDAC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Min Ren
- College of Life Science, Yan'an University, Yan'an, 716000, China
| | - Liaoliao Feng
- College of Life Science, Yan'an University, Yan'an, 716000, China
| | - Rongrong Zong
- College of Life Science, Yan'an University, Yan'an, 716000, China
| | - Huiru Sun
- College of Life Science, Yan'an University, Yan'an, 716000, China.
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12
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Hijazi A, Antoniotti C, Cremolini C, Galon J. Light on life: immunoscore immune-checkpoint, a predictor of immunotherapy response. Oncoimmunology 2023; 12:2243169. [PMID: 37554310 PMCID: PMC10405746 DOI: 10.1080/2162402x.2023.2243169] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2023] [Revised: 07/27/2023] [Accepted: 07/27/2023] [Indexed: 08/10/2023] Open
Abstract
In the last decade, a plethora of immunotherapeutic strategies have been designed to modulate the tumor immune microenvironment. In particular, immune checkpoint (IC) blockade therapies present the most promising advances made in cancer treatment in recent years. In non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), biomarkers predicting response to IC treatments are currently lacking. We have recently identified Immunoscore-IC, a powerful biomarker that predicts the efficiency of immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in NSCLC patients. Immunoscore-IC is an in vitro diagnostic assay that quantifies densities of PD-L1+, CD8+ cells, and distances between CD8+ and PD-L1+ cells in the tumor microenvironment. Immunoscore-IC can classify responder vs non-responder NSCLC patients for ICIs therapy and is revealed as a promising predictive marker of response to anti-PD-1/PD-L1 immunotherapy in these patients. Immunoscore-IC has also shown a significant predictive value, superior to the currently used PD-L1 marker. In colorectal cancer (CRC), the addition of atezolizumab to first-line FOLFOXIRI plus bevacizumab improved progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with previously untreated metastatic CRC. In the AtezoTRIBE trial, Immunoscore-IC emerged as the first biomarker with robust predictive value in stratifying pMMR metastatic CRC patients who critically benefit from checkpoint inhibitors. Thus, Immunoscore-IC could be a universal biomarker to predict response to PD-1/PD-L1 checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapy across multiple cancer indications. Therefore, cancer patient stratification (by Immunoscore-IC), based on the presence of T lymphocytes and PD-L1 potentially provides support for clinicians to guide them through combination cancer treatment decisions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Assia Hijazi
- INSERM, Laboratory of Integrative Cancer Immunology, Paris, France
- Equipe Labellisée Ligue Contre le Cancer, Paris, France
- Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers, Sorbonne Université, Université Paris Cité, Paris, France
| | - Carlotta Antoniotti
- Department of Translational Research and New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | - Chiara Cremolini
- Department of Translational Research and New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | - Jérôme Galon
- INSERM, Laboratory of Integrative Cancer Immunology, Paris, France
- Equipe Labellisée Ligue Contre le Cancer, Paris, France
- Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers, Sorbonne Université, Université Paris Cité, Paris, France
- Veracyte, Marseille, France
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13
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Zou X, Guan C, Gao J, Shi W, Cui Y, Zhong X. Tertiary lymphoid structures in pancreatic cancer: a new target for immunotherapy. Front Immunol 2023; 14:1222719. [PMID: 37529035 PMCID: PMC10388371 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1222719] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2023] [Accepted: 06/26/2023] [Indexed: 08/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Pancreatic cancer (PC) is extremely malignant and shows limited response to available immunotherapies due to the hypoxic and immunosuppressive nature of its tumor microenvironment (TME). The aggregation of immune cells (B cells, T cells, dendritic cells, etc.), which is induced in various chronic inflammatory settings such as infection, inflammation, and tumors, is known as the tertiary lymphoid structure (TLS). Several studies have shown that TLSs can be found in both intra- and peritumor tissues of PC. The role of TLSs in peritumor tissues in tumors remains unclear, though intratumoral TLSs are known to play an active role in a variety of tumors, including PC. The formation of intratumoral TLSs in PC is associated with a good prognosis. In addition, TLSs can be used as an indicator to assess the effectiveness of treatment. Targeted induction of TLS formation may become a new avenue of immunotherapy for PC. This review summarizes the formation, characteristics, relevant clinical outcomes, and clinical applications of TLSs in the pancreatic TME. We aim to provide new ideas for future immunotherapy of PC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xinlei Zou
- Department of Hepatopancreatobiary Surgery, The 2nd Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China
| | - Canghai Guan
- Department of Hepatopancreatobiary Surgery, The 2nd Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China
| | - Jianjun Gao
- Department of Hepatopancreatobiary Surgery, The 2nd Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China
| | - Wujiang Shi
- Department of Hepatopancreatobiary Surgery, The 2nd Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China
| | - Yunfu Cui
- Department of Hepatopancreatobiary Surgery, The 2nd Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China
| | - Xiangyu Zhong
- Department of Hepatopancreatobiary Surgery, The 2nd Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China
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14
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Giustarini G, Teng G, Pavesi A, Adriani G. Characterization of 3D heterocellular spheroids of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma for the study of cell interactions in the tumor immune microenvironment. Front Oncol 2023; 13:1156769. [PMID: 37519820 PMCID: PMC10375712 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2023.1156769] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2023] [Accepted: 06/27/2023] [Indexed: 08/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the deadliest malignancies nowadays. The available chemo- and immunotherapies are often ineffective in treating PDAC due to its immunosuppressive and highly desmoplastic tumor immune microenvironment (TIME), which is hardly reproduced in the existing preclinical models. The PDAC TIME results from a peculiar spatial organization between different cell types. For this reason, developing new human models recapitulating the tissue organization and cell heterogeneity of PDAC is highly desirable. We developed human 3D heterocellular tumor spheroids of PDAC formed by cancer cells, endothelial cells, pancreatic stellate cells (PSC), and monocytes. As a control, we formed spheroids using immortalized epithelial pancreatic ductal cells (non-cancerous spheroids) with cellular heterogeneity similar to the tumor spheroids. Normal spheroids containing endothelial cells formed a complex 3D endothelial network significantly compromised in tumor spheroids. Monocyte/macrophages within the 4-culture tumor spheroids were characterized by a higher expression of CD163, CD206, PD-L1, and CD40 than those in the non-cancerous spheroids suggesting their differentiation towards an immunosuppressive phenotype. The heterocellular tumor spheroids presented a hypoxic core populated with PSC and monocytes/macrophages. The 4-culture tumor spheroids were characterized by spatial proximity of PSC and monocytes to the endothelial cells and a cytokine signature with increased concentrations of CXCL10, CCL2, and IL-6, which have been observed in PDAC patients and associated with poor survival. Further, 4-culture tumor spheroids decreased the concentrations of T-cell chemoattracting cytokines, i.e., CCL4, CCL5, and CXCL9, when compared with the non-cancerous spheroids, revealing a critical immunosuppressive feature of the different types of cells forming the tumor spheroids. Our results showed that the 4-culture tumor spheroids better resembled some critical features of patients' PDAC TIME than monoculture tumor spheroids. Using the proposed human 3D spheroid model for therapy testing at the preclinical stage may reveal pitfalls of chemo- and immuno-therapies to help the development of better anti-tumor therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giulio Giustarini
- Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (ASTAR), Singapore, Singapore
| | - Germaine Teng
- Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (ASTAR), Singapore, Singapore
| | - Andrea Pavesi
- Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (ASTAR), Singapore, Singapore
- Mechanobiology Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Giulia Adriani
- Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (ASTAR), Singapore, Singapore
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
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15
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Lin HJ, Liu Y, Caroland K, Lin J. Polarization of Cancer-Associated Macrophages Maneuver Neoplastic Attributes of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma. Cancers (Basel) 2023; 15:3507. [PMID: 37444617 DOI: 10.3390/cancers15133507] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2023] [Revised: 07/01/2023] [Accepted: 07/03/2023] [Indexed: 07/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Mounting evidence links the phenomenon of enhanced recruitment of tumor-associated macrophages towards cancer bulks to neoplastic growth, invasion, metastasis, immune escape, matrix remodeling, and therapeutic resistance. In the context of cancer progression, naïve macrophages are polarized into M1 or M2 subtypes according to their differentiation status, gene signatures, and functional roles. While the former render proinflammatory and anticancer effects, the latter subpopulation elicits an opposite impact on pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. M2 macrophages have gained increasing attention as they are largely responsible for molding an immune-suppressive landscape. Through positive feedback circuits involving a paracrine manner, M2 macrophages can be amplified by and synergized with neighboring neoplastic cells, fibroblasts, endothelial cells, and non-cell autonomous constituents in the microenvironmental niche to promote an advanced disease state. This review delineates the molecular cues expanding M2 populations that subsequently convey notorious clinical outcomes. Future therapeutic regimens shall comprise protocols attempting to abolish environmental niches favoring M2 polarization; weaken cancer growth typically assisted by M2; promote the recruitment of tumoricidal CD8+ T lymphocytes and dendritic cells; and boost susceptibility towards gemcitabine as well as other chemotherapeutic agents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huey-Jen Lin
- Department of Medical & Molecular Sciences, University of Delaware, Willard Hall Education Building, 16 West Main Street, Newark, DE 19716, USA
| | - Yingguang Liu
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Sciences, College of Osteopathic Medicine, Liberty University, 306 Liberty View Lane, Lynchburg, VA 24502, USA
| | - Kailey Caroland
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Molecular Medicine Graduate Program, Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center, School of Medicine, University of Maryland, 108 N. Greene Street, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA
| | - Jiayuh Lin
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Molecular Medicine Graduate Program, Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center, School of Medicine, University of Maryland, 108 N. Greene Street, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA
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16
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Mercanti L, Sindaco M, Mazzone M, Di Marcantonio MC, Piscione M, Muraro R, Mincione G. PDAC, the Influencer Cancer: Cross-Talk with Tumor Microenvironment and Connected Potential Therapy Strategies. Cancers (Basel) 2023; 15:cancers15112923. [PMID: 37296886 DOI: 10.3390/cancers15112923] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2023] [Revised: 05/18/2023] [Accepted: 05/24/2023] [Indexed: 06/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is among the leading causes of death by cancer in the world. What makes this pathological condition particularly lethal is a combination of clinical and molecular heterogeneity, lack of early diagnostic indexes, and underwhelming results from current therapeutic protocols. A major cause of PDAC chemoresistance seems to lie in the ability of cancer cells to spread out and fill the pancreatic parenchyma, exchanging nutrients, substrates, and even genetic material with cells from the surrounding tumor microenvironment (TME). Several components can be found in the TME ultrastructure, including collagen fibers, cancer-associated fibroblasts, macrophages, neutrophils, mast cells, and lymphocytes. Cross-talk between PDAC and TME cells results in the latter being converted into cancer-favoring phenotypes; this behavior could be compared to an influencer guiding followers into supporting his activity. Moreover, TME could be a potential target for some of the newest therapeutic strategies; these include the use of pegvorhyaluronidase-α and CAR-T lymphocytes against HER2, FAP, CEA, MLSN, PSCA, and CD133. Other experimental therapy options are being currently studied, aiming to interfere with the KRAS pathway, DNA-repairing proteins, and apoptosis resistance in PDAC cells. Hopefully these new approaches will grant better clinical outcomes in future patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leonardo Mercanti
- Department of Innovative Technologies in Medicine & Dentistry, University "G. d'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara, 66100 Chieti, Italy
| | - Maria Sindaco
- Department of Innovative Technologies in Medicine & Dentistry, University "G. d'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara, 66100 Chieti, Italy
| | - Mariangela Mazzone
- Department of Innovative Technologies in Medicine & Dentistry, University "G. d'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara, 66100 Chieti, Italy
| | - Maria Carmela Di Marcantonio
- Department of Innovative Technologies in Medicine & Dentistry, University "G. d'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara, 66100 Chieti, Italy
| | | | - Raffaella Muraro
- Department of Innovative Technologies in Medicine & Dentistry, University "G. d'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara, 66100 Chieti, Italy
| | - Gabriella Mincione
- Department of Innovative Technologies in Medicine & Dentistry, University "G. d'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara, 66100 Chieti, Italy
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17
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Sagini MN, Klika KD, Owen RW, Berger MR. Khasianine Affects the Expression of Sugar-Sensitive Proteins in Pancreatic Cancer Cells, Which Are Altered in Data from the Rat Model and Patients. ACS Pharmacol Transl Sci 2023; 6:727-737. [PMID: 37200805 PMCID: PMC10186360 DOI: 10.1021/acsptsci.3c00013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2023] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a deadly malignancy with no effective treatment, particularly in the advanced stage. This study explored the antiproliferative activity of khasianine against pancreatic cancer cell lines of human (Suit2-007) and rat (ASML) origin. Khasianine was purified from Solanum incanum fruits by silica gel column chromatography and analyzed by LC-MS and NMR spectroscopy. Its effect in pancreatic cancer cells was evaluated by cell proliferation assay, chip array and mass spectrometry. Proteins showing sensitivity to sugars, i.e. sugar-sensitive lactosyl-Sepharose binding proteins (LSBPs), were isolated from Suit2-007 cells by competitive affinity chromatography. The eluted fractions included galactose-, glucose-, rhamnose- and lactose-sensitive LSBPs. The resulting data were analyzed by Chipster, Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) and GraphPad Prism. Khasianine inhibited proliferation of Suit2-007 and ASML cells with IC50 values of 50 and 54 μg/mL, respectively. By comparative analysis, khasianine downregulated lactose-sensitive LSBPs the most (126%) and glucose-sensitive LSBPs the least (85%). Rhamnose-sensitive LSBPs overlapped significantly with lactose-sensitive LSBPs and were the most upregulated in data from patients (23%) and a pancreatic cancer rat model (11.5%). From IPA, the Ras homolog family member A (RhoA) emerged as one of the most activated signaling pathways involving rhamnose-sensitive LSBPs. Khasianine altered the mRNA expression of sugar-sensitive LSBPs, some of which were modulated in data from patients and the rat model. The antiproliferative effect of khasianine in pancreatic cancer cells and the downregulation of rhamnose-sensitive proteins underscore the potential of khasianine in treating pancreatic cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Micah N. Sagini
- Toxicology
and Chemotherapy Unit, German Cancer Research
Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 580, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Karel D. Klika
- Molecular
Structure Analysis, German Cancer Research
Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer
Feld 280, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Robert W. Owen
- Biochemistry
and Biomarkers Unit, German Cancer Research
Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer
Feld 580, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Martin R. Berger
- Toxicology
and Chemotherapy Unit, German Cancer Research
Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 580, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
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18
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Montagne JM, Jaffee EM, Fertig EJ. Multiomics Empowers Predictive Pancreatic Cancer Immunotherapy. JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY (BALTIMORE, MD. : 1950) 2023; 210:859-868. [PMID: 36947820 PMCID: PMC10236355 DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.2200660] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2022] [Accepted: 11/23/2022] [Indexed: 03/24/2023]
Abstract
Advances in cancer immunotherapy, particularly immune checkpoint inhibitors, have dramatically improved the prognosis for patients with metastatic melanoma and other previously incurable cancers. However, patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) generally do not respond to these therapies. PDAC is exceptionally difficult to treat because of its often late stage at diagnosis, modest mutation burden, and notoriously complex and immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. Simultaneously interrogating features of cancer, immune, and other cellular components of the PDAC tumor microenvironment is therefore crucial for identifying biomarkers of immunotherapeutic resistance and response. Notably, single-cell and multiomics technologies, along with the analytical tools for interpreting corresponding data, are facilitating discoveries of the systems-level cellular and molecular interactions contributing to the overall resistance of PDAC to immunotherapy. Thus, in this review, we will explore how multiomics and single-cell analyses provide the unprecedented opportunity to identify biomarkers of resistance and response to successfully sensitize PDAC to immunotherapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Janelle M Montagne
- Department of Oncology, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
- Convergence Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
- Bloomberg Kimmel Immunology Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
| | - Elizabeth M Jaffee
- Department of Oncology, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
- Convergence Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
- Bloomberg Kimmel Immunology Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
| | - Elana J Fertig
- Department of Oncology, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
- Convergence Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
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19
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Shockley KE, To B, Chen W, Lozanski G, Cruz-Monserrate Z, Krishna SG. The Role of Genetic, Metabolic, Inflammatory, and Immunologic Mediators in the Progression of Intraductal Papillary Mucinous Neoplasms to Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma. Cancers (Basel) 2023; 15:1722. [PMID: 36980608 PMCID: PMC10046238 DOI: 10.3390/cancers15061722] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2023] [Revised: 02/21/2023] [Accepted: 03/08/2023] [Indexed: 03/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms (IPMN) have the potential to progress to pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). As with any progression to malignancy, there are a variety of genetic and metabolic changes, as well as other disruptions to the cellular microenvironment including immune alterations and inflammation, that can contribute to tumorigenesis. Previous studies further characterized these alterations, revealing changes in lipid and glucose metabolism, and signaling pathways that mediate the progression of IPMN to PDAC. With the increased diagnosis of IPMNs and pancreatic cysts on imaging, the opportunity to attenuate risk with the removal of high-risk lesions is possible with the understanding of what factors accelerate malignant progression and how they can be clinically utilized to determine the level of dysplasia and stratify the risk of progression. Here, we reviewed the genetic, metabolic, inflammatory, and immunologic pathways regulating the progression of IPMN to PDAC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kylie E. Shockley
- Department of Internal Medicine, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
| | - Briana To
- Department of Internal Medicine, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
| | - Wei Chen
- Department of Pathology, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
| | - Gerard Lozanski
- Department of Pathology, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
| | - Zobeida Cruz-Monserrate
- Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition, and The James Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
| | - Somashekar G. Krishna
- Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition, and The James Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
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20
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Tanaka T, Masuda A, Inoue J, Hamada T, Ikegawa T, Toyama H, Sofue K, Shiomi H, Sakai A, Kobayashi T, Tanaka S, Nakano R, Yamada Y, Ashina S, Tsujimae M, Yamakawa K, Abe S, Gonda M, Masuda S, Inomata N, Uemura H, Kohashi S, Nagao K, Kanzawa M, Itoh T, Ueda Y, Fukumoto T, Kodama Y. Integrated analysis of tertiary lymphoid structures in relation to tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and patient survival in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. J Gastroenterol 2023; 58:277-291. [PMID: 36705749 DOI: 10.1007/s00535-022-01939-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2021] [Accepted: 12/04/2022] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Tertiary lymphoid structure (TLS) reflects an intense immune response against cancer, which correlates with favorable patient survival. However, the association of TLS with tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and clinical outcomes has not been investigated comprehensively in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). METHODS We utilized an integrative molecular pathological epidemiology database on 162 cases with resected PDAC, and examined TLS in relation to levels of TILs, patient survival, and treatment response. In whole-section slides, we assessed the formation of TLS and conducted immunohistochemistry for tumor-infiltrating T cells (CD4, CD8, CD45RO, and FOXP3). As confounding factors, we assessed alterations of four main driver genes (KRAS, TP53, CDKN2A [p16], and SMAD4) using next-generation sequencing and immunohistochemistry, and tumor CD274 (PD-L1) expression assessed by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS TLSs were found in 112 patients with PDAC (69.1%). TLS was associated with high levels of CD4+ TILs (multivariable odds ratio [OR], 3.50; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.65-7.80; P = 0.0002), CD8+ TILs (multivariable OR, 11.0; 95% CI 4.57-29.7, P < 0.0001) and CD45RO+ TILs (multivariable OR, 2.65; 95% CI 1.25-5.80, P = 0.01), but not with levels of FOXP3+ TILs. TLS was associated with longer pancreatic cancer-specific survival (multivariable hazard ratio, 0.37; 95% CI 0.25-0.56, P < 0.0001) and favorable outcomes of adjuvant S-1-treatment. TLS was not associated with driver gene alterations but tumor CD274 negative expression. CONCLUSIONS Our comprehensive data supports the surrogacy of TLS for vigorous anti-tumor immune response characterized by high levels of helper and cytotoxic T cells and their prognostic role.
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Affiliation(s)
- Takeshi Tanaka
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-1 Kusunoki-Cho, Chuo-Ku, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan
| | - Atsuhiro Masuda
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-1 Kusunoki-Cho, Chuo-Ku, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan.
| | - Jun Inoue
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-1 Kusunoki-Cho, Chuo-Ku, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan
| | - Tsuyoshi Hamada
- Department of Gastroenterology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, 7-5-1 Kusunoki-Cho, Chuo-Ku, Tokyo, 113-8655, Japan
| | - Takuya Ikegawa
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-1 Kusunoki-Cho, Chuo-Ku, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan
| | - Hirochika Toyama
- Division of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-1 Kusunoki-Cho, Chuo-Ku, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan
| | - Keitaro Sofue
- Department of Radiology, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-1 Kusunoki-Cho, Chuo-Ku, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan
| | - Hideyuki Shiomi
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-1 Kusunoki-Cho, Chuo-Ku, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan
| | - Arata Sakai
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-1 Kusunoki-Cho, Chuo-Ku, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan
| | - Takashi Kobayashi
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-1 Kusunoki-Cho, Chuo-Ku, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan
| | - Shunta Tanaka
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-1 Kusunoki-Cho, Chuo-Ku, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan
| | - Ryota Nakano
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-1 Kusunoki-Cho, Chuo-Ku, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan
| | - Yasutaka Yamada
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-1 Kusunoki-Cho, Chuo-Ku, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan
| | - Shigeto Ashina
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-1 Kusunoki-Cho, Chuo-Ku, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan
| | - Masahiro Tsujimae
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-1 Kusunoki-Cho, Chuo-Ku, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan
| | - Kohei Yamakawa
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-1 Kusunoki-Cho, Chuo-Ku, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan
| | - Shohei Abe
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-1 Kusunoki-Cho, Chuo-Ku, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan
| | - Masanori Gonda
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-1 Kusunoki-Cho, Chuo-Ku, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan
| | - Shigeto Masuda
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-1 Kusunoki-Cho, Chuo-Ku, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan
| | - Noriko Inomata
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-1 Kusunoki-Cho, Chuo-Ku, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan
| | - Hisahiro Uemura
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-1 Kusunoki-Cho, Chuo-Ku, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan
| | - Shinya Kohashi
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-1 Kusunoki-Cho, Chuo-Ku, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan
| | - Kae Nagao
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-1 Kusunoki-Cho, Chuo-Ku, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan
| | - Maki Kanzawa
- Division of Diagnostic Pathology, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-1 Kusunoki-Cho, Chuo-Ku, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan
| | - Tomoo Itoh
- Division of Diagnostic Pathology, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-1 Kusunoki-Cho, Chuo-Ku, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan
| | - Yoshihide Ueda
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-1 Kusunoki-Cho, Chuo-Ku, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan
| | - Takumi Fukumoto
- Division of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-1 Kusunoki-Cho, Chuo-Ku, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan
| | - Yuzo Kodama
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-1 Kusunoki-Cho, Chuo-Ku, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan
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21
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Walcheck MT, Schwartz PB, Carrillo ND, Matkowsky KA, Nukaya M, Bradfield CA, Ronnekleiv-Kelly SM. Aryl hydrocarbon receptor knockout accelerates PanIN formation and fibro-inflammation in a mutant Kras-driven pancreatic cancer model. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.02.01.526625. [PMID: 36778364 PMCID: PMC9915668 DOI: 10.1101/2023.02.01.526625] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Objectives The pathogenesis of pancreas cancer (PDAC) remains poorly understood, hindering efforts to develop a more effective therapy for PDAC. Recent discoveries show the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of several cancers, and can be targeted for therapeutic effect. However, its involvement in PDAC remains unclear. Therefore, we evaluated the role of AHR in the development of PDAC in vivo. Methods We created a global AHR-null, mutant Kras-driven PDAC mouse model (A-/-KC) and evaluated the changes in PDAC precursor lesion formation (Pan-IN 1, 2, and 3) and associated fibro-inflammation between KC and A-/-KC at 5 months of age. We then examined the changes in the immune microenvironment followed by single-cell RNA-sequencing analysis to evaluate concomitant transcriptomic changes. Results We found a significant increase in PanIN-1 lesion formation and PanIN-1 associated fibro-inflammatory infiltrate in A-/-KC vs KC mice. This was associated with significant changes in the adaptive immune system, particularly a decrease in the CD4+/CD8+ T-cell ratio, as well as a decrease in the T-regulatory/Th17 T-cell ratio suggesting unregulated inflammation. Conclusion These findings show the loss of AHR results in heightened Kras-induced PanIN formation, through modulation of immune cells within the pancreatic tumor microenvironment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Morgan T Walcheck
- University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Department of Surgery, Division of Surgical Oncology, K4/747 CSC, 600 Highland Avenue, Madison, WI 53792
| | - Patrick B Schwartz
- University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Department of Surgery, Division of Surgical Oncology, K4/747 CSC, 600 Highland Avenue, Madison, WI 53792
| | - Noah D Carrillo
- University of Wisconsin, McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research, 1400 University Avenue, McArdle Research Building, Madison, WI, 53706
| | - Kristina A Matkowsky
- University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, L5/183 CSC, 600 Highland Avenue, Madison, WI 53792
- University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center, Madison, WI 53705
- William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital, Madison, WI 53705
| | - Manabu Nukaya
- University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Department of Surgery, Division of Surgical Oncology, K4/747 CSC, 600 Highland Avenue, Madison, WI 53792
- University of Wisconsin, McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research, 1400 University Avenue, McArdle Research Building, Madison, WI, 53706
| | - Christopher A Bradfield
- University of Wisconsin, McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research, 1400 University Avenue, McArdle Research Building, Madison, WI, 53706
| | - Sean M Ronnekleiv-Kelly
- University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Department of Surgery, Division of Surgical Oncology, K4/747 CSC, 600 Highland Avenue, Madison, WI 53792
- University of Wisconsin, McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research, 1400 University Avenue, McArdle Research Building, Madison, WI, 53706
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22
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Yamazaki K, Kubara K, Suzuki Y, Hihara T, Kurotaki D, Tamura T, Ito M, Tsukahara K. Multivalent mannose-conjugated siRNA causes robust gene silencing in pancreatic macrophages in vivo. Eur J Pharm Biopharm 2023; 183:61-73. [PMID: 36603692 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejpb.2022.12.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2022] [Revised: 12/22/2022] [Accepted: 12/28/2022] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
Nucleic acid therapeutics have been utilized for gene regulation, and their recent advancement has led to approval of novel drugs for liver-related disorders. However, systemic extrahepatic delivery remains challenging. Here, we report newly designed mannose-conjugated oligonucleotides for delivering oligonucleotides to macrophages by leveraging the mannose receptor, C-type 1 (MRC1, CD206), which is abundantly expressed in macrophages. We investigated the relationship between cellular uptake and multivalency (mono to tetra) of mannose ligands or linker length and selected a trivalent-mannose ligand. Trivalent-mannose (Man3)-conjugated siRNA induced concentration-dependent gene silencing in both human CD206-overexpressing cells and human macrophages in vitro. After subcutaneous injection into mice, we observed a high distribution of Man3-conjugated oligonucleotides in the liver and pancreata as well as cellular uptake into Kupffer cells and pancreatic macrophages. A single subcutaneous injection of Man3-conjugated siRNA (10 mg/kg) targeting β2-microglobulin (B2M) silenced B2m mRNA expression by ∼50% and decreased its protein levels in mouse pancreatic macrophages compared to those in saline-treated mice. Of note, multiple subcutaneous injections decreased B2m gene expression and B2M protein levels by ∼80% and ∼85%, respectively. These results show that mannose-conjugation with oligonucleotides is expected to help deliver oligonucleotides to macrophages and regulate gene expression in vivo, particularly in the pancreas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kazuto Yamazaki
- Tsukuba Research Laboratories, Eisai Co., Ltd., 5-1-3, Tokodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 300-2635, Japan.
| | - Kenji Kubara
- Tsukuba Research Laboratories, Eisai Co., Ltd., 5-1-3, Tokodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 300-2635, Japan
| | - Yuta Suzuki
- Tsukuba Research Laboratories, Eisai Co., Ltd., 5-1-3, Tokodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 300-2635, Japan
| | - Taro Hihara
- Tsukuba Research Laboratories, Eisai Co., Ltd., 5-1-3, Tokodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 300-2635, Japan
| | - Daisuke Kurotaki
- Department of Immunology, Yokohama City University Graduate School of Medicine, 3-9, Fukuura, Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama 236-0004, Japan
| | - Tomohiko Tamura
- Department of Immunology, Yokohama City University Graduate School of Medicine, 3-9, Fukuura, Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama 236-0004, Japan
| | - Masashi Ito
- Tsukuba Research Laboratories, Eisai Co., Ltd., 5-1-3, Tokodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 300-2635, Japan
| | - Kappei Tsukahara
- Tsukuba Research Laboratories, Eisai Co., Ltd., 5-1-3, Tokodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 300-2635, Japan
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23
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Krishnan SN, Barua S, Frankel TL, Rao A. Towards the characterization of the tumor microenvironment through dictionary learning-based interpretable classification of multiplexed immunofluorescence images. Phys Med Biol 2023; 68:014002. [PMID: 36541756 PMCID: PMC9903331 DOI: 10.1088/1361-6560/aca86a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2022] [Accepted: 12/02/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022]
Abstract
Objective.Histology image analysis is a crucial diagnostic step in staging and treatment planning, especially for cancerous lesions. With the increasing adoption of computational methods for image analysis, significant strides are being made to improve the performance metrics of image segmentation and classification frameworks. However, many developed frameworks effectively function as black boxes, granting minimal context to the decision-making process. Thus, there is a need to develop methods that offer reasonable discriminatory power and a biologically-informed intuition to the decision-making process.Approach.In this study, we utilized and modified a discriminative feature-based dictionary learning (DFDL) paradigm to generate a classification framework that allows for discrimination between two distinct clinical histologies. This framework allows us (i) to discriminate between 2 clinically distinct diseases or histologies and (ii) provides interpretable group-specific representative dictionary image patches, or 'atoms', generated during classifier training. This implementation is performed on multiplexed immunofluorescence images from two separate patient cohorts- a pancreatic cohort consisting of cancerous and non-cancerous tissues and a metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (mNSCLC) cohort of responders and non-responders to an immunotherapeutic treatment regimen. The analysis was done at both the image-level and subject-level. Five cell types were selected, namely, epithelial cells, cytotoxic lymphocytes, antigen presenting cells, HelperT cells, and T-regulatory cells, as our phenotypes of interest.Results.We showed that DFDL had significant discriminant capabilities for both the pancreatic pathologies cohort (subject-level AUC-0.8878) and the mNSCLC immunotherapy response cohort (subject-level AUC-0.7221). The secondary analysis also showed that more than 50% of the obtained dictionary atoms from the classifier contained biologically relevant information.Significance.Our method shows that the generated dictionary features can help distinguish patients presenting two different histologies with strong sensitivity and specificity metrics. These features allow for an additional layer of model interpretability, a highly desirable element in clinical applications for identifying novel biological phenomena.
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Affiliation(s)
- Santhoshi N Krishnan
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas-77005, United States of America,
Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan-48109, United States of America
| | - Souptik Barua
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas-77005, United States of America
| | - Timothy L Frankel
- Department of Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan-48109, United States of America
| | - Arvind Rao
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas-77005, United States of America,
Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan-48109, United States of America,
Department of Biostatistics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan-48109, United States of America,
Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan-48109, United States of America,
Department of Radiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan-48109, United States of America
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24
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Piro G, Carbone C, Agostini A, Esposito A, De Pizzol M, Novelli R, Allegretti M, Aramini A, Caggiano A, Granitto A, De Sanctis F, Ugel S, Corbo V, Martini M, Lawlor RT, Scarpa A, Tortora G. CXCR1/2 dual-inhibitor ladarixin reduces tumour burden and promotes immunotherapy response in pancreatic cancer. Br J Cancer 2023; 128:331-341. [PMID: 36385556 PMCID: PMC9902528 DOI: 10.1038/s41416-022-02028-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2022] [Revised: 10/11/2022] [Accepted: 10/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a highly lethal malignancy with few therapeutic options available. Despite immunotherapy has revolutionised cancer treatment, the results obtained in PDAC are still disappointing. Emerging evidence suggests that chemokines/CXCRs-axis plays a pivotal role in immune tumour microenvironment modulation, which may influence immunotherapy responsiveness. Here, we evaluated the effectiveness of CXCR1/2 inhibitor ladarixin, alone or in combination with anti-PD-1, against immunosuppression in PDAC. METHODS A set of preclinical models was obtained by engrafting mouse PDAC-derived cells into syngeneic immune-competent mice, as well as by orthotopically transplanting patient-derived PDAC tumour into human immune-system-reconstituted (HIR) mice (HuCD34-NSG-mice). Tumour-bearing mice were randomly assigned to receive vehicles, ladarixin, anti-PD-1 or drugs combination. RESULTS CXCR1/2 inhibition by ladarixin reverted in vitro tumour-mediated M2 macrophages polarisation and migration. Ladarixin as single agent reduced tumour burden in cancer-derived graft (CDG) models with high-immunogenic potential and increased the efficacy of ICI in non-immunogenic CDG-resistant models. In a HIR mouse model bearing the immunogenic subtype of human PDAC, ladarixin showed high efficacy increasing the antitumor effect of anti-PD-1. CONCLUSION Ladarixin in combination with anti-PD-1 might represent an extremely effective approach for the treatment of immunotherapy refractory PDAC, allowing pro-tumoral to immune-permissive microenvironment conversion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Geny Piro
- Medical Oncology, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences Fondazione Policlinico Universitario "Agostino Gemelli" IRCCS, Rome, Italy
| | - Carmine Carbone
- Medical Oncology, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences Fondazione Policlinico Universitario "Agostino Gemelli" IRCCS, Rome, Italy
| | - Antonio Agostini
- Medical Oncology, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences Fondazione Policlinico Universitario "Agostino Gemelli" IRCCS, Rome, Italy
| | - Annachiara Esposito
- Medical Oncology, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences Fondazione Policlinico Universitario "Agostino Gemelli" IRCCS, Rome, Italy
| | | | - Rubina Novelli
- Dompé Farmaceutici S.p.A., Via Santa Lucia 6, Milan, Italy
| | | | - Andrea Aramini
- Dompé Farmaceutici S.p.A., Via Santa Lucia 6, Milan, Italy
| | - Alessia Caggiano
- Medical Oncology, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences Fondazione Policlinico Universitario "Agostino Gemelli" IRCCS, Rome, Italy
| | - Alessia Granitto
- Division of Anatomic Pathology and Histology, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario "Agostino Gemelli" IRCCS, Rome, Italy
| | - Francesco De Sanctis
- Department of Medicine, Section of Immunology, University of Verona, Verona, Italy
| | - Stefano Ugel
- Department of Medicine, Section of Immunology, University of Verona, Verona, Italy
| | - Vincenzo Corbo
- Department of Diagnostics and Public Health, Section of Pathology, University and Hospital Trust of Verona, Verona, Italy
- ARC-Net Research Centre, University and Hospital Trust of Verona, Verona, Italy
| | - Maurizio Martini
- Division of Anatomic Pathology and Histology, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario "Agostino Gemelli" IRCCS, Rome, Italy
| | - Rita Teresa Lawlor
- Department of Diagnostics and Public Health, Section of Pathology, University and Hospital Trust of Verona, Verona, Italy
- ARC-Net Research Centre, University and Hospital Trust of Verona, Verona, Italy
| | - Aldo Scarpa
- Department of Diagnostics and Public Health, Section of Pathology, University and Hospital Trust of Verona, Verona, Italy
- ARC-Net Research Centre, University and Hospital Trust of Verona, Verona, Italy
| | - Giampaolo Tortora
- Medical Oncology, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences Fondazione Policlinico Universitario "Agostino Gemelli" IRCCS, Rome, Italy.
- Medical Oncology, Department of Translational Medicine, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Rome, Italy.
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25
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Gao W, Chen D, Liu J, Zang L, Xiao T, Zhang X, Li Z, Zhu H, Yu X. Interplay of four types of RNA modification writers revealed distinct tumor microenvironment and biological characteristics in pancreatic cancer. Front Immunol 2022; 13:1031184. [PMID: 36601127 PMCID: PMC9806142 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.1031184] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2022] [Accepted: 12/05/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Pancreatic cancer (PC) is one of the most lethal malignancies and carries a dismal mortality and morbidity. Four types of RNA modification (namely m6A, m1A, APA and A-to-I) could be catalyzed by distinct enzymatic compounds ("writers"), mediating numerous epigenetic events in carcinogenesis and immunomodulation. We aim to investigate the interplay mechanism of these writers in immunogenomic features and molecular biological characteristics in PC. Methods We first accessed the specific expression pattern and transcriptional variation of 26 RNA modification writers in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) dataset. Unsupervised consensus clustering was performed to divide patients into two RNA modification clusters. Then, based on the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) among two clusters, RNA modification score (WM_Score) model was established to determine RNA modification-based subtypes and was validated in International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) dataset. What's more, we manifested the unique status of WM_Score in transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation, molecular biological characteristics, targeted therapies and immunogenomic patterns. Results We documented the tight-knit correlations between transcriptional expression and variation of RNA modification writers. We classified patients into two distinct RNA modification patterns (WM_Score_high and _low), The WM_Score_high subgroup was correlated with worse prognosis, Th2/Th17 cell polarization and oncogenic pathways (e.g. EMT, TGF-β, and mTORC1 signaling pathways), whereas the WM_Score_low subgroup associated with favorable survival rate and Th1 cell trend. WM_Score model also proved robust predictive power in interpreting transcriptional and post-transcriptional events. Additionally, the potential targeted compounds with related pathways for the WM_Score model were further identified. Conclusions Our research unfolds a novel horizon on the interplay network of four RNA modifications in PC. This WM_Score model demonstrated powerful predictive capacity in epigenetic, immunological and biological landscape, providing a theoretical basis for future clinical judgments of PC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenzhe Gao
- Department of Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery, Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - Dongjie Chen
- Department of Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery, Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China,Department of General Surgery, Pancreatic Disease Center, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China,Shanghai Key Laboratory of Translational Research for Pancreatic Neoplasms, Research Institute of Pancreatic Diseases, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China,State Key Laboratory of Oncogenes and Related Genes, Institute of Translational Medicine, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Jixing Liu
- Department of Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery, Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China,Department of Nephrology, Institute of Nephrology, 2nd Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical University, Haikou, Hainan, China
| | - Longjun Zang
- Department of Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery, Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - Tijun Xiao
- Department of General Surgery, Shaoyang University Affiliated Second Hospital, Shaoyang University, Shaoyang, Hunan, China
| | - Xianlin Zhang
- Department of General Surgery, Affiliated Renhe Hospital of China Three Gorges University, Yichang, Hubei, China
| | - Zheng Li
- Department of General Surgery, Affiliated Renhe Hospital of China Three Gorges University, Yichang, Hubei, China
| | - Hongwei Zhu
- Department of Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery, Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China,*Correspondence: Hongwei Zhu, ; Xiao Yu,
| | - Xiao Yu
- Department of Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery, Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China,*Correspondence: Hongwei Zhu, ; Xiao Yu,
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Hughes R, Snook AE, Mueller AC. The poorly immunogenic tumor microenvironment of pancreatic cancer: the impact of radiation therapy, and strategies targeting resistance. Immunotherapy 2022; 14:1393-1405. [PMID: 36468417 DOI: 10.2217/imt-2022-0046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal cancers, due to its uniquely aggressive behavior and resistance to therapy. The tumor microenvironment of pancreatic cancer is immunosuppressive, and attempts at utilizing immunotherapies have been unsuccessful. Radiation therapy (RT) results in immune activation and antigen presentation in other cancers, but in pancreatic cancer has had limited success in stimulating immune responses. RT activates common pathways of fibrosis and chronic inflammation seen in pancreatic cancer, resulting in immune suppression. Here we describe the pancreatic tumor microenvironment with regard to fibrosis, myeloid and lymphoid cells, and the impact of RT. We also describe strategies of targeting these pathways that have promise to improve outcomes by harnessing the cytotoxic and immune-activating aspects of RT.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert Hughes
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, USA
| | - Adam E Snook
- Department of Pharmacology & Experimental Therapeutics, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA.,Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA; Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA
| | - Adam C Mueller
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, USA
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27
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Zeng Z, Luo M, Li Y, Li J, Huang Z, Zeng Y, Yuan Y, Wang M, Liu Y, Gong Y, Xie C. Prediction of radiosensitivity and radiocurability using a novel supervised artificial neural network. BMC Cancer 2022; 22:1243. [PMID: 36451111 PMCID: PMC9713966 DOI: 10.1186/s12885-022-10339-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2022] [Accepted: 11/21/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Radiotherapy has been widely used to treat various cancers, but its efficacy depends on the individual involved. Traditional gene-based machine-learning models have been widely used to predict radiosensitivity. However, there is still a lack of emerging powerful models, artificial neural networks (ANN), in the practice of gene-based radiosensitivity prediction. In addition, ANN may overfit and learn biologically irrelevant features. METHODS We developed a novel ANN with Selective Connection based on Gene Patterns (namely ANN-SCGP) to predict radiosensitivity and radiocurability. We creatively used gene patterns (gene similarity or gene interaction information) to control the "on-off" of the first layer of weights, enabling the low-dimensional features to learn the gene pattern information. ANN-SCGP was trained and tested in 82 cell lines and 1,101 patients from the 11 pan-cancer cohorts. RESULTS For survival fraction at 2 Gy, the root mean squared errors (RMSE) of prediction in ANN-SCGP was the smallest among all algorithms (mean RMSE: 0.1587-0.1654). For radiocurability, ANN-SCGP achieved the first and second largest C-index in the 12/20 and 4/20 tests, respectively. The low dimensional output of ANN-SCGP reproduced the patterns of gene similarity. Moreover, the pan-cancer analysis indicated that immune signals and DNA damage responses were associated with radiocurability. CONCLUSIONS As a model including gene pattern information, ANN-SCGP had superior prediction abilities than traditional models. Our work provided novel insights into radiosensitivity and radiocurability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zihang Zeng
- grid.413247.70000 0004 1808 0969Department of Radiation and Medical Oncology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, 169 Donghu Road, Wuhan, 430071 Hubei China
| | - Maoling Luo
- grid.413247.70000 0004 1808 0969Department of Radiation and Medical Oncology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, 169 Donghu Road, Wuhan, 430071 Hubei China
| | - Yangyi Li
- grid.413247.70000 0004 1808 0969Department of Radiation and Medical Oncology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, 169 Donghu Road, Wuhan, 430071 Hubei China
| | - Jiali Li
- grid.413247.70000 0004 1808 0969Department of Radiation and Medical Oncology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, 169 Donghu Road, Wuhan, 430071 Hubei China
| | - Zhengrong Huang
- grid.413247.70000 0004 1808 0969Department of Radiation and Medical Oncology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, 169 Donghu Road, Wuhan, 430071 Hubei China ,grid.413247.70000 0004 1808 0969Department of Biological Repositories, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, 169 Donghu Road, Wuhan, 430071 Hubei China
| | - Yuxin Zeng
- grid.413247.70000 0004 1808 0969Department of Radiation and Medical Oncology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, 169 Donghu Road, Wuhan, 430071 Hubei China
| | - Yu Yuan
- grid.413247.70000 0004 1808 0969Department of Radiation and Medical Oncology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, 169 Donghu Road, Wuhan, 430071 Hubei China
| | - Mengqin Wang
- grid.413247.70000 0004 1808 0969Department of Radiation and Medical Oncology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, 169 Donghu Road, Wuhan, 430071 Hubei China
| | - Yuying Liu
- grid.413247.70000 0004 1808 0969Department of Radiation and Medical Oncology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, 169 Donghu Road, Wuhan, 430071 Hubei China
| | - Yan Gong
- grid.413247.70000 0004 1808 0969Department of Biological Repositories, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, 169 Donghu Road, Wuhan, 430071 Hubei China ,grid.413247.70000 0004 1808 0969Tumor Precision Diagnosis and Treatment Technology and Translational Medicine, Hubei Engineering Research Center, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430071 Hubei China
| | - Conghua Xie
- grid.413247.70000 0004 1808 0969Department of Radiation and Medical Oncology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, 169 Donghu Road, Wuhan, 430071 Hubei China ,grid.413247.70000 0004 1808 0969Hubei Key Laboratory of Tumor Biological Behaviors, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430071 Hubei China ,grid.413247.70000 0004 1808 0969Hubei Cancer Clinical Study Center, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430071 Hubei China
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28
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Li Y, Hong YK, Wang X, Pandit H, Zheng Q, Yu Y, Shi X, Chen Y, Tan M, Pulliam Z, Bhutiani N, Lin A, Badach J, Zhang P, Martin RCG. Epigenetic modulation enhances immunotherapy for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Clin Transl Immunology 2022; 11:e1430. [PMID: 36452477 PMCID: PMC9705274 DOI: 10.1002/cti2.1430] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2022] [Revised: 07/19/2022] [Accepted: 10/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Objectives Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is an aggressive disease with a poor prognosis. PDAC has poor response to immunotherapy because of its unique tumour microenvironment (TME). In an attempt to stimulate immunologically silent pancreatic cancer, we investigated the role of epigenetic therapy in modulating the TME to improve immunogenicity. Methods In vitro human PDAC cell lines MiaPaca2 and S2-013 were treated with 5μ m 3-Deazaneplanocin A (DZNep, an EZH2 inhibitor) and 5 μ m 5-Azacytidine (5-AZA, a DNMT1 inhibitor). In vivo orthotopic murine tumour models using both murine PAN02 cells and KPC cells inoculated in immunocompetent C56/BL7 mice were treated with anti-PD-L1 combined with DZNep and 5-AZA. Short hairpin knockdown (KD) of EZH2 and DNMT1 in PAN02 cells for the orthotopic murine tumour model was established to validate the drug treatment (DZNep and 5-AZA). qRT-PCR and microarray assays were performed for the evaluation of Th1-attracting chemokines and cancer-associated antigen induction. Results Drug treatments induced significant upregulation of gene expressions of Th1-attracting chemokines, CXCL9 and CXCL10, and the cancer-testis antigens, NY-ESO-1, LAGE and SSX-4 (P < 0.05). In orthotopic tumour models, inoculation of PAN02 cells or KPC cells demonstrated significant tumour regression with corresponding increased apoptosis and infiltration of cytotoxic T lymphocytes in the combination treatment group. In the orthotopic Pan02-KD model, the anti-PD-L1 treatment also caused significant tumour regression. Conclusion We demonstrate that immunotherapy for PDAC can be potentiated with epigenetic therapy by increasing cancer-associated antigen expression and increased T-cell trafficking across the immunosuppressive tumour microenvironment via upregulation of the repressed chemokines and increased apoptosis with subsequent tumour regression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yan Li
- Division of Surgical Oncology, Hiram C. Polk Jr., M.D. Department of SurgerySchool of Medicine, University of LouisvilleLouisvilleKYUSA,Department of Pharmacology & ToxicologyUniversity of Louisville School of MedicineLouisvilleKYUSA
| | - Young K Hong
- Division of Surgical Oncology, Hiram C. Polk Jr., M.D. Department of SurgerySchool of Medicine, University of LouisvilleLouisvilleKYUSA,Division of Surgical Oncology, Department of SurgeryCooper University HospitalCamdenNJUSA
| | - Xingtong Wang
- Division of Surgical Oncology, Hiram C. Polk Jr., M.D. Department of SurgerySchool of Medicine, University of LouisvilleLouisvilleKYUSA,The First Hospital of Jilin University, Jilin UniversityChangchunChina
| | - Harshul Pandit
- Division of Surgical Oncology, Hiram C. Polk Jr., M.D. Department of SurgerySchool of Medicine, University of LouisvilleLouisvilleKYUSA,Department of Pharmacology & ToxicologyUniversity of Louisville School of MedicineLouisvilleKYUSA
| | - Qianqian Zheng
- Division of Surgical Oncology, Hiram C. Polk Jr., M.D. Department of SurgerySchool of Medicine, University of LouisvilleLouisvilleKYUSA,Basic Medicine College, China Medical UniversityShenyangChina
| | - Youxi Yu
- Division of Surgical Oncology, Hiram C. Polk Jr., M.D. Department of SurgerySchool of Medicine, University of LouisvilleLouisvilleKYUSA,The First Hospital of Jilin University, Jilin UniversityChangchunChina
| | - Xiaoju Shi
- Division of Surgical Oncology, Hiram C. Polk Jr., M.D. Department of SurgerySchool of Medicine, University of LouisvilleLouisvilleKYUSA,The First Hospital of Jilin University, Jilin UniversityChangchunChina
| | - Yujia Chen
- Division of Surgical Oncology, Hiram C. Polk Jr., M.D. Department of SurgerySchool of Medicine, University of LouisvilleLouisvilleKYUSA,The First Hospital of Jilin University, Jilin UniversityChangchunChina
| | - Min Tan
- Division of Surgical Oncology, Hiram C. Polk Jr., M.D. Department of SurgerySchool of Medicine, University of LouisvilleLouisvilleKYUSA
| | - Zachary Pulliam
- Division of Surgical Oncology, Hiram C. Polk Jr., M.D. Department of SurgerySchool of Medicine, University of LouisvilleLouisvilleKYUSA
| | - Neal Bhutiani
- Division of Surgical Oncology, Hiram C. Polk Jr., M.D. Department of SurgerySchool of Medicine, University of LouisvilleLouisvilleKYUSA
| | - Andrew Lin
- Division of Surgical Oncology, Department of SurgeryCooper University HospitalCamdenNJUSA
| | - Jeremy Badach
- Division of Surgical Oncology, Department of SurgeryCooper University HospitalCamdenNJUSA
| | - Ping Zhang
- Division of Surgical Oncology, Department of SurgeryCooper University HospitalCamdenNJUSA
| | - Robert CG Martin
- Division of Surgical Oncology, Hiram C. Polk Jr., M.D. Department of SurgerySchool of Medicine, University of LouisvilleLouisvilleKYUSA,Department of Pharmacology & ToxicologyUniversity of Louisville School of MedicineLouisvilleKYUSA
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29
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Bhatia R, Bhyravbhatla N, Kisling A, Li X, Batra SK, Kumar S. Cytokines chattering in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma tumor microenvironment. Semin Cancer Biol 2022; 86:499-510. [PMID: 35346801 PMCID: PMC9510605 DOI: 10.1016/j.semcancer.2022.03.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2022] [Revised: 03/21/2022] [Accepted: 03/22/2022] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) tumor microenvironment (TME) consists of multiple cell types interspersed by dense fibrous stroma. These cells communicate through low molecular weight signaling molecules called cytokines. The cytokines, through their receptors, facilitate PDAC initiation, progression, metastasis, and distant colonization of malignant cells. These signaling mediators secreted from tumor-associated macrophages, and cancer-associated fibroblasts in conjunction with oncogenic Kras mutation initiate acinar to ductal metaplasia (ADM), resulting in the appearance of early preneoplastic lesions. Further, M1- and M2-polarized macrophages provide proinflammatory conditions and promote deposition of extracellular matrix, whereas myofibroblasts and T-lymphocytes, such as Th17 and T-regulatory cells, create a fibroinflammatory and immunosuppressive environment with a significantly reduced cytotoxic T-cell population. During PDAC progression, cytokines regulate the expression of various oncogenic regulators such as NFκB, c-myc, growth factor receptors, and mucins resulting in the formation of high-grade PanIN lesions, epithelial to mesenchymal transition, invasion, and extravasation of malignant cells, and metastasis. During metastasis, PDAC cells colonize at the premetastatic niche created in the liver, and lung, an organotropic function primarily executed by cytokines in circulation or loaded in the exosomes from the primary tumor cells. The indispensable contribution of these cytokines at every stage of PDAC tumorigenesis makes them exciting candidates in combination with immune-, chemo- and targeted radiation therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rakesh Bhatia
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA
| | - Namita Bhyravbhatla
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA
| | - Andrew Kisling
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA
| | - Xiaoqi Li
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA
| | - Surinder K Batra
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA; Fred and Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, Omaha, NE, USA; Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer and Allied Diseases, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA.
| | - Sushil Kumar
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA; Fred and Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, Omaha, NE, USA.
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30
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Zhu X, Liang R, Lan T, Ding D, Huang S, Shao J, Zheng Z, Chen T, Huang Y, Liu J, Pathak JL, Wei H, Wei B. Tumor-associated macrophage-specific CD155 contributes to M2-phenotype transition, immunosuppression, and tumor progression in colorectal cancer. J Immunother Cancer 2022; 10:jitc-2021-004219. [PMID: 36104099 PMCID: PMC9476138 DOI: 10.1136/jitc-2021-004219] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/23/2022] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Onco-immunogenic molecule CD155 is overexpressed in various tumor microenvironments (TME) including in colorectal cancer (CRC). Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are the most abundant immune cells in CRC TME and play a vital role in CRC progression and metastasis. Most studies have focused on investigating the role of CRC cell-specific CD155 on CRC progression, while the contribution of TAMs-specific CD155 is still unknown. Here, we sought to investigate the expression pattern of CD155 in CRC TAMs and its role in tumor immunity and progression. Methods CD155 expression patterns in CRC TAMs and macrophages in paratumor or adjacent normal tissue were analyzed in 50 patients with CRC using flow cytometry and in 141 patients with CRC using immunohistochemistry. The correlation of CD155 expression level in TAMs with M1 and M2 phenotypic transition was analyzed. The role of macrophage-specific CD155 in CRC progression and tumor immune response was investigated in vitro and in vivo. We further analyzed the effect of CRC cells on the regulation of CD155 expression in macrophages. Results CRC TAMs from clinical samples showed robustly higher expression of CD155 than macrophages from paratumor and adjacent normal tissues. The CD155 expression level was higher in TAMs of CRC at III/IV stages compared with the I/II stages and was negatively associated with the survival of patients with CRC. CD155+ TAMs showed an M2 phenotype and higher expression of interleukin (IL)-10 and transforming growth factor (TGF)-β. CD155+ macrophages promoted CRC cell migration, invasion, and tumor growth supporting the findings from the clinical tissue analysis. This effect was mainly regulated by TGF-β-induced STAT3 activation-mediated release of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP)2 and MMP9 in CRC cells. CD155–⁄– bone marrow transplantation in wild-type mice, as well as CD155– macrophages treatment, promoted the antitumor immune response in the mice ectopic CRC model. Additionally, CRC cells released IL-4 to trigger CD155 expression in macrophages indicating the regulatory role of CRC cells in the development of CD155+ TAMs. Conclusions These findings indicated that CD155+ TAMs are responsible for the M2-phenotype transition, immunosuppression, and tumor progression in CRC. The specific localization of CD155+ TAMs in CRC tissue could turn into a potential therapeutic target for CRC treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xudong Zhu
- Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Rongpu Liang
- Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Tianyun Lan
- Central Laboratory, Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Dongbing Ding
- Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Shengxin Huang
- Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jun Shao
- Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Zongheng Zheng
- Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Tufeng Chen
- Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yong Huang
- Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jianpei Liu
- Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Janak L Pathak
- Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Basic and Applied Research of Regenerative Medicine, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Hongbo Wei
- Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Bo Wei
- Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
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Raja Arul GL, Toruner MD, Gatenby RA, Carr RM. Ecoevolutionary biology of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Pancreatology 2022; 22:730-740. [PMID: 35821188 DOI: 10.1016/j.pan.2022.06.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2022] [Accepted: 06/01/2022] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), the most common histological subtype of pancreatic cancer, is an aggressive disease predicted to be the 2nd cause of cancer mortality in the US by 2040. While first-line therapy has improved, 5-year overall survival has only increased from 5 to ∼10%, and surgical resection is only available for ∼20% of patients as most present with advanced disease, which is invariably lethal. PDAC has well-established highly recurrent mutations in four driver genes including KRAS, TP53, CDKN2A, and SMAD4. Unfortunately, these genetic drivers are not currently therapeutically actionable. Despite extensive sequencing efforts, few additional significantly recurrent and druggable drivers have been identified. In the absence of targetable mutations, chemotherapy remains the mainstay of treatment for most patients. Further, the role of the above driver mutations on PDAC initiation and early development is well-established. However, these mutations alone cannot account for PDAC heterogeneity nor discern early from advanced disease. Taken together, management of PDAC is an example highlighting the shortcomings of the current precision medicine paradigm. PDAC, like other malignancies, represents an ecoevolutionary process. Better understanding the disease through this lens can facilitate the development of novel therapeutic strategies to better control and cure PDAC. This review aims to integrate the current understanding of PDAC pathobiology into an ecoevolutionary framework.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Merih D Toruner
- Schulze Center for Novel Therapeutics, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Robert A Gatenby
- Department of Integrated Mathematical Oncology, Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, FL, USA
| | - Ryan M Carr
- Department of Oncology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
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32
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Smith C, Zheng W, Dong J, Wang Y, Lai J, Liu X, Yin F. Tumor microenvironment in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma: Implications in immunotherapy. World J Gastroenterol 2022; 28:3297-3313. [PMID: 36158269 PMCID: PMC9346457 DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v28.i27.3297] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2022] [Revised: 04/22/2022] [Accepted: 06/20/2022] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is one of the most aggressive and lethal cancers. Surgical resection is the only curable treatment option, but it is available for only a small fraction of patients at the time of diagnosis. With current therapeutic regimens, the average 5-year survival rate is less than 10% in pancreatic cancer patients. Immunotherapy has emerged as one of the most promising treatment options for multiple solid tumors of advanced stage. However, its clinical efficacy is suboptimal in most clinical trials on pancreatic cancer. Current studies have suggested that the tumor microenvironment is likely the underlying barrier affecting immunotherapy drug efficacy in pancreatic cancer. In this review, we discuss the role of the tumor microenvironment in pancreatic cancer and the latest advances in immunotherapy on pancreatic cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caitlyn Smith
- Department of Pathology and Anatomical Sciences, University of Missouri School of Medicine, Columbia, MO 65212, United States
| | - Wei Zheng
- Department of Pathology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, United States
| | - Jixin Dong
- Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer and Allied Diseases, Fred and Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198, United States
| | - Yaohong Wang
- Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37232, United States
| | - Jinping Lai
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Kaiser Permanente Sacramento Medical Center, Sacramento, CA 95825, United States
| | - Xiuli Liu
- Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63110, United States
| | - Feng Yin
- Department of Pathology and Anatomical Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65212, United States
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33
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Chong YP, Peter EP, Lee FJM, Chan CM, Chai S, Ling LPC, Tan EL, Ng SH, Masamune A, Ghafar SAA, Ismail N, Ho KL. Conditioned media of pancreatic cancer cells and pancreatic stellate cells induce myeloid-derived suppressor cells differentiation and lymphocytes suppression. Sci Rep 2022; 12:12315. [PMID: 35853996 PMCID: PMC9296552 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-16671-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2022] [Accepted: 07/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
As pancreatic cancer cells (PCCs) and pancreatic stellate cells (PSCs) are the two major cell types that comprise the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment of pancreatic cancer, we aimed to investigate the role of conditioned medium derived from PCCs and PSCs co-culture on the viability of lymphocytes. The conditioned medium (CM) collected from PCCs and/or PSCs was used to treat peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) to determine CM ability in reducing lymphocytes population. A proteomic analysis has been done on the CM to investigate the differentially expressed protein (DEP) expressed by two PCC lines established from different stages of tumor. Subsequently, we investigated if the reduction of lymphocytes was directly caused by CM or indirectly via CM-induced MDSCs. This was achieved by isolating lymphocyte subtypes and treating them with CM and CM-induced MDSCs. Both PCCs and PSCs were important in suppressing lymphocytes, and the PCCs derived from a metastatic tumor appeared to have a stronger suppressive effect than the PCCs derived from a primary tumor. According to the proteomic profiles of CM, 416 secreted proteins were detected, and 13 DEPs were identified between PANC10.05 and SW1990. However, CM was found unable to reduce lymphocytes viability through a direct pathway. In contrast, CM that contains proteins secreted by PCC and/or PSC appear immunogenic as they increase the viability of lymphocytes subtypes. Lymphocyte subtype treated with CM-induced MDSCs showed reduced viability in T helper 1 (Th1), T helper 2 (Th2), and T regulatory (Treg) cells, but not in CD8+ T cells, and B cells. As a conclusion, the interplay between PCCs and PSCs is important as their co-culture displays a different trend in lymphocytes suppression, hence, their co-culture should be included in future studies to better mimic the tumor microenvironment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuen Ping Chong
- School of Postgraduate Studies, International Medical University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
| | - Evelyn Priya Peter
- School of Postgraduate Studies, International Medical University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
| | - Feon Jia Ming Lee
- School of Pharmacy, International Medical University, No. 126, Jalan Jalil Perkasa 19, Bukit Jalil, 57000, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
| | - Chu Mun Chan
- School of Pharmacy, International Medical University, No. 126, Jalan Jalil Perkasa 19, Bukit Jalil, 57000, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
| | - Shereen Chai
- School of Pharmacy, International Medical University, No. 126, Jalan Jalil Perkasa 19, Bukit Jalil, 57000, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
| | - Lorni Poh Chou Ling
- School of Pharmacy, International Medical University, No. 126, Jalan Jalil Perkasa 19, Bukit Jalil, 57000, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
| | - Eng Lai Tan
- School of Postgraduate Studies, International Medical University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
| | - Sook Han Ng
- School of Pharmacy, International Medical University, No. 126, Jalan Jalil Perkasa 19, Bukit Jalil, 57000, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
| | - Atsushi Masamune
- Division of Gastroenterology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan
| | - Siti Aisyah Abd Ghafar
- Department of Basic Science and Oral Biology, Faculty of Dentistry, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia, Seremban, Malaysia
| | - Norsharina Ismail
- Natural Medicines and Products Research Laboratory, Institute of Bioscience, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
| | - Ket Li Ho
- School of Pharmacy, International Medical University, No. 126, Jalan Jalil Perkasa 19, Bukit Jalil, 57000, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
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Kurz E, Hirsch CA, Dalton T, Shadaloey SA, Khodadadi-Jamayran A, Miller G, Pareek S, Rajaei H, Mohindroo C, Baydogan S, Ngo-Huang A, Parker N, Katz MHG, Petzel M, Vucic E, McAllister F, Schadler K, Winograd R, Bar-Sagi D. Exercise-induced engagement of the IL-15/IL-15Rα axis promotes anti-tumor immunity in pancreatic cancer. Cancer Cell 2022; 40:720-737.e5. [PMID: 35660135 PMCID: PMC9280705 DOI: 10.1016/j.ccell.2022.05.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 73] [Impact Index Per Article: 36.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2021] [Revised: 03/30/2022] [Accepted: 05/10/2022] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
Aerobic exercise is associated with decreased cancer incidence and cancer-associated mortality. However, little is known about the effects of exercise on pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA), a disease for which current therapeutic options are limited. Herein, we show that aerobic exercise reduces PDA tumor growth, by modulating systemic and intra-tumoral immunity. Mechanistically, exercise promotes immune mobilization and accumulation of tumor-infiltrating IL15Rα+ CD8 T cells, which are responsible for the tumor-protective effects. In clinical samples, an exercise-dependent increase of intra-tumoral CD8 T cells is also observed. Underscoring the translational potential of the interleukin (IL)-15/IL-15Rα axis, IL-15 super-agonist (NIZ985) treatment attenuates tumor growth, prolongs survival, and enhances sensitivity to chemotherapy. Finally, exercise or NIZ985 both sensitize pancreatic tumors to αPD-1, with improved anti-tumor and survival benefits. Collectively, our findings highlight the therapeutic potential of an exercise-oncology axis and identify IL-15 activation as a promising treatment strategy for this deadly disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emma Kurz
- Department of Cell Biology, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, 550 1(st) Avenue, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Carolina Alcantara Hirsch
- Department of Cell Biology, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, 550 1(st) Avenue, New York, NY 10016, USA; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, 550 1(st) Avenue, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Tanner Dalton
- Department of Pathology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, 630 W 168th St., New York, NY 10032, USA
| | - Sorin Alberto Shadaloey
- Department of Cell Biology, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, 550 1(st) Avenue, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Alireza Khodadadi-Jamayran
- Applied Bioinformatics Laboratory, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, 227 East 30(th) St., New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - George Miller
- Department of Surgery, Trinity Health New England, 56 Franklin St., Waterbury, CT 06706, USA
| | - Sumedha Pareek
- Department of Pediatrics Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd., Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Hajar Rajaei
- Department of Clinical Cancer Prevention, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd., Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Chirayu Mohindroo
- Department of Clinical Cancer Prevention, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd., Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Seyda Baydogan
- Department of Clinical Cancer Prevention, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd., Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - An Ngo-Huang
- Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd., Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Nathan Parker
- Department of Health Outcomes and Behavior, Moffit Cancer Center, 12902 Magnolia Drive, Tampa, FL 33612, USA
| | - Matthew H G Katz
- Department of Surgical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd., Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Maria Petzel
- Department of Clinical Nutrition, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd., Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Emily Vucic
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, 550 1(st) Avenue, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Florencia McAllister
- Department of Clinical Cancer Prevention, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd., Houston, TX 77030, USA; Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology and Immunology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd., Houston TX, 77030, USA
| | - Keri Schadler
- Department of Pediatrics Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd., Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Rafael Winograd
- Permultter Cancer Center, NYU Langone Health, 160 East 34(th) St., New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Dafna Bar-Sagi
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, 550 1(st) Avenue, New York, NY 10016, USA.
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Sim W, Lim WM, Hii LW, Leong CO, Mai CW. Targeting pancreatic cancer immune evasion by inhibiting histone deacetylases. World J Gastroenterol 2022; 28:1934-1945. [PMID: 35664961 PMCID: PMC9150054 DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v28.i18.1934] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2022] [Revised: 03/17/2022] [Accepted: 04/04/2022] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
The immune system plays a vital role in maintaining the delicate balance between immune recognition and tumor development. Regardless, it is not uncommon that cancerous cells can intelligently acquire abilities to bypass the antitumor immune responses, thus allowing continuous tumor growth and development. Immune evasion has emerged as a significant factor contributing to the progression and immune resistance of pancreatic cancer. Compared with other cancers, pancreatic cancer has a tumor microenvironment that can resist most treatment modalities, including emerging immunotherapy. Sadly, the use of immunotherapy has yet to bring significant clinical breakthrough among pancreatic cancer patients, suggesting that pancreatic cancer has successfully evaded immunomodulation. In this review, we summarize the impact of genetic alteration and epigenetic modification (especially histone deacetylases, HDAC) on immune evasion in pancreatic cancer. HDAC overexpression significantly suppresses tumor suppressor genes, contributing to tumor growth and progression. We review the evidence on HDAC inhibitors in tumor eradication, improving T cells activation, restoring tumor immunogenicity, and modulating programmed death 1 interaction. We provide our perspective in targeting HDAC as a strategy to reverse immune evasion in pancreatic cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wynne Sim
- School of Medicine, International Medical University, Kuala Lumpur 57000, Malaysia
| | - Wei-Meng Lim
- School of Pharmacy, International Medical University, Kuala Lumpur 57000, Malaysia
- Center for Cancer and Stem Cell Research, Institute for Research, Development, and Innovation, International Medical University, Kuala Lumpur 57000, Malaysia
| | - Ling-Wei Hii
- School of Pharmacy, International Medical University, Kuala Lumpur 57000, Malaysia
- Center for Cancer and Stem Cell Research, Institute for Research, Development, and Innovation, International Medical University, Kuala Lumpur 57000, Malaysia
| | - Chee-Onn Leong
- Center for Cancer and Stem Cell Research, Institute for Research, Development, and Innovation, International Medical University, Kuala Lumpur 57000, Malaysia
- AGTC Genomics, Kuala Lumpur 57000, Malaysia
| | - Chun-Wai Mai
- State Key Laboratory of Oncogenes and Related Genes, Renji-Med X Clinical Stem Cell Research Center, Ren Ji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200127, China
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, UCSI University, Kuala Lumpur 56000, Malaysia
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Schniers BK, Wachtel MS, Sharma M, Korac K, Rajasekaran D, Yang S, Sniegowski T, Ganapathy V, Bhutia YD. Deletion of Slc6a14 reduces cancer growth and metastatic spread and improves survival in KPC mouse model of spontaneous pancreatic cancer. Biochem J 2022; 479:719-730. [PMID: 35212370 PMCID: PMC9022989 DOI: 10.1042/bcj20210855] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2021] [Revised: 02/22/2022] [Accepted: 02/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is lethal. There is a dire need for better therapeutic targets. Cancer cells have increased demand for sugars, amino acids, and lipids and therefore up-regulate various nutrient transporters to meet this demand. In PDAC, SLC6A14 (an amino acid transporter (AAT)) is up-regulated, affecting overall patient survival. Previously we have shown using in vitro cell culture models and in vivo xenograft mouse models that pharmacological inhibition of SLC6A14 with α-methyl-l-tryptophan (α-MLT) attenuates PDAC growth. Mechanistically, blockade of SLC6A14-mediated amino acid transport with α-MLT leads to amino acid deprivation, eventually inhibiting mTORC1 signaling pathway, in tumor cells. Here, we report on the effect of Slc6a14 deletion on various parameters of PDAC in KPC mice, a model for spontaneous PDAC. Pancreatic tumors in KPC mice show evidence of Slc6a14 up-regulation. Deletion of Slc6a14 in this mouse attenuates PDAC growth, decreases the metastatic spread of the tumor, reduces ascites fluid accumulation, and improves overall survival. At the molecular level, we show lower proliferation index and reduced desmoplastic reaction following Slc6a14 deletion. Furthermore, we find that deletion of Slc6a14 does not lead to compensatory up-regulation in any of the other amino transporters. In fact, some of the AATs are actually down-regulated in response to Slc6a14 deletion, most likely related to altered mTORC1 signaling. Taken together, these results underscore the positive role SLC6A14 plays in PDAC growth and metastasis. Therefore, SLC6A14 is a viable drug target for the treatment of PDAC and also for any other cancer that overexpresses this transporter.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bradley K. Schniers
- Department of Cell Biology and Biochemistry, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, TX 79430, U.S.A
| | - Mitchell S. Wachtel
- Department of Cell Biology and Biochemistry, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, TX 79430, U.S.A
| | - Meenu Sharma
- Department of Surgical Pathology, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, TX 79430, U.S.A
| | - Ksenija Korac
- Department of Cell Biology and Biochemistry, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, TX 79430, U.S.A
| | - Devaraja Rajasekaran
- Department of Cell Biology and Biochemistry, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, TX 79430, U.S.A
| | - Shengping Yang
- Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70808, U.S.A
| | - Tyler Sniegowski
- Department of Cell Biology and Biochemistry, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, TX 79430, U.S.A
| | - Vadivel Ganapathy
- Department of Cell Biology and Biochemistry, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, TX 79430, U.S.A
| | - Yangzom D. Bhutia
- Department of Cell Biology and Biochemistry, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, TX 79430, U.S.A
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Bian Y, Liu C, Li Q, Meng Y, Liu F, Zhang H, Fang X, Li J, Yu J, Feng X, Ma C, Zhao Z, Wang L, Xu J, Shao C, Lu J. Preoperative Radiomics Approach to Evaluating Tumor-Infiltrating CD8 + T Cells in Patients With Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Using Noncontrast Magnetic Resonance Imaging. J Magn Reson Imaging 2022; 55:803-814. [PMID: 34355834 DOI: 10.1002/jmri.27871] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2021] [Revised: 07/20/2021] [Accepted: 07/20/2021] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND CD8+ T cell in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is closely related to the prognosis and treatment response of patients. Accurate preoperative CD8+ T-cell expression can better identify the population benefitting from immunotherapy. PURPOSE To develop and validate a machine learning classifier based on noncontrast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for the preoperative prediction of CD8+ T-cell expression in patients with PDAC. STUDY TYPE Retrospective cohort study. POPULATION Overall, 114 patients with PDAC undergoing MR scan and surgical resection; 97 and 47 patients in the training and validation cohorts. FIELD STRENGTH/SEQUENCE/3 T: Breath-hold single-shot fast-spin echo T2-weighted sequence and noncontrast T1-weighted fat-suppressed sequences. ASSESSMENT CD8+ T-cell expression was quantified using immunohistochemistry. For each patient, 2232 radiomics features were extracted from noncontrast T1- and T2-weighted images and reduced using the Wilcoxon rank-sum test and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator method. Linear discriminative analysis was used to construct radiomics and mixed models. Model performance was determined by its discriminative ability, calibration, and clinical utility. STATISTICAL TESTS Kaplan-Meier estimates, Student's t-test, the Kruskal-Wallis H test, and the chi-square test, receiver operating characteristic curve, and decision curve analysis. RESULTS A log-rank test showed that the survival duration in the CD8-high group (25.51 months) was significantly longer than that in the CD8-low group (22.92 months). The mixed model included all MRI characteristics and 13 selected radiomics features, and the area under the curve (AUC) was 0.89 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.77-0.92) and 0.69 (95% CI, 0.53-0.82) in the training and validation cohorts. The radiomics model included 13 radiomics features, which showed good discrimination in the training cohort (AUC, 0.85; 95% CI, 0.77-0.92) and the validation cohort (AUC, 0.76; 95% CI, 0.61-0.87). DATA CONCLUSIONS This study developed a noncontrast MRI-based radiomics model that can preoperatively determine CD8+ T-cell expression in patients with PDAC and potentially immunotherapy planning. EVIDENCE LEVEL 5 TECHNICAL EFFICACY: Stage 2.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yun Bian
- Department of Radiology, Changhai Hospital, Navy Medical University, Shanghai, China
| | - Cong Liu
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Big Data Analysis Technique, School of Automation, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, China
| | - Qi Li
- Department of Radiology, Changhai Hospital, Navy Medical University, Shanghai, China
| | - Yinghao Meng
- Department of Radiology, Changhai Hospital, Navy Medical University, Shanghai, China
| | - Fang Liu
- Department of Radiology, Changhai Hospital, Navy Medical University, Shanghai, China
| | - Hao Zhang
- Department of Radiology, Changhai Hospital, Navy Medical University, Shanghai, China
| | - Xu Fang
- Department of Radiology, Changhai Hospital, Navy Medical University, Shanghai, China
| | - Jing Li
- Department of Radiology, Changhai Hospital, Navy Medical University, Shanghai, China
| | - Jieyu Yu
- Department of Radiology, Changhai Hospital, Navy Medical University, Shanghai, China
| | - Xiaochen Feng
- Department of Radiology, Changhai Hospital, Navy Medical University, Shanghai, China
| | - Chao Ma
- Department of Radiology, Changhai Hospital, Navy Medical University, Shanghai, China
| | - Zengrui Zhao
- Institute for AI in Medicine, School of Automation, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210044, China
| | - Li Wang
- Department of Radiology, Changhai Hospital, Navy Medical University, Shanghai, China
| | - Jun Xu
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Big Data Analysis Technique, School of Automation, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, China
| | - Chengwei Shao
- Department of Radiology, Changhai Hospital, Navy Medical University, Shanghai, China
| | - Jianping Lu
- Department of Radiology, Changhai Hospital, Navy Medical University, Shanghai, China
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Muller M, Haghnejad V, Schaefer M, Gauchotte G, Caron B, Peyrin-Biroulet L, Bronowicki JP, Neuzillet C, Lopez A. The Immune Landscape of Human Pancreatic Ductal Carcinoma: Key Players, Clinical Implications, and Challenges. Cancers (Basel) 2022; 14:cancers14040995. [PMID: 35205742 PMCID: PMC8870260 DOI: 10.3390/cancers14040995] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2022] [Revised: 02/14/2022] [Accepted: 02/15/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most aggressive and deadliest cancer worldwide with an overall survival rate, all stages combined, of still <10% at 5 years. The poor prognosis is attributed to challenges in early detection, a low opportunity for radical resection, limited response to chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and resistance to immune therapy. Moreover, pancreatic tumoral cells are surrounded by an abundant desmoplastic stroma, which is responsible for creating a mechanical barrier, preventing appropriate vascularization and leading to poor immune cell infiltration. Accumulated evidence suggests that PDAC is impaired with multiple “immune defects”, including a lack of high-quality effector cells (CD4, CD8 T cells, dendritic cells), barriers to effector cell infiltration due to that desmoplastic reaction, and a dominance of immune cells such as regulatory T cells, myeloid-derived suppressor cells, and M2 macrophages, resulting in an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME). Although recent studies have brought new insights into PDAC immune TME, its understanding remains not fully elucidated. Further studies are required for a better understanding of human PDAC immune TME, which might help to develop potent new therapeutic strategies by correcting these immune defects with the hope to unlock the resistance to (immune) therapy. In this review, we describe the main effector immune cells and immunosuppressive actors involved in human PDAC TME, as well as their implications as potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marie Muller
- Department of Gastroenterology, Nancy University Hospital, University of Lorraine, 54500 Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy, France; (V.H.); (M.S.); (B.C.); (L.P.-B.); (J.-P.B.); (A.L.)
- Correspondence:
| | - Vincent Haghnejad
- Department of Gastroenterology, Nancy University Hospital, University of Lorraine, 54500 Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy, France; (V.H.); (M.S.); (B.C.); (L.P.-B.); (J.-P.B.); (A.L.)
| | - Marion Schaefer
- Department of Gastroenterology, Nancy University Hospital, University of Lorraine, 54500 Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy, France; (V.H.); (M.S.); (B.C.); (L.P.-B.); (J.-P.B.); (A.L.)
| | - Guillaume Gauchotte
- Department of Pathology, Nancy University Hospital, University of Lorraine, 54500 Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy, France;
- INSERM U1256, NGERE, Faculty of Medicine, University of Lorraine, 54500 Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy, France
| | - Bénédicte Caron
- Department of Gastroenterology, Nancy University Hospital, University of Lorraine, 54500 Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy, France; (V.H.); (M.S.); (B.C.); (L.P.-B.); (J.-P.B.); (A.L.)
| | - Laurent Peyrin-Biroulet
- Department of Gastroenterology, Nancy University Hospital, University of Lorraine, 54500 Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy, France; (V.H.); (M.S.); (B.C.); (L.P.-B.); (J.-P.B.); (A.L.)
- INSERM U1256, NGERE, Faculty of Medicine, University of Lorraine, 54500 Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy, France
| | - Jean-Pierre Bronowicki
- Department of Gastroenterology, Nancy University Hospital, University of Lorraine, 54500 Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy, France; (V.H.); (M.S.); (B.C.); (L.P.-B.); (J.-P.B.); (A.L.)
- INSERM U1256, NGERE, Faculty of Medicine, University of Lorraine, 54500 Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy, France
| | - Cindy Neuzillet
- Medical Oncology Department, Curie Institute, Versailles Saint-Quentin University (UVQ), Paris Saclay University, 92064 Saint-Cloud, France;
| | - Anthony Lopez
- Department of Gastroenterology, Nancy University Hospital, University of Lorraine, 54500 Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy, France; (V.H.); (M.S.); (B.C.); (L.P.-B.); (J.-P.B.); (A.L.)
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Liu R, Dollinger E, Nie Q. Machine Learning of Single Cell Transcriptomic Data From anti-PD-1 Responders and Non-responders Reveals Distinct Resistance Mechanisms in Skin Cancers and PDAC. Front Genet 2022; 12:806457. [PMID: 35178072 PMCID: PMC8844526 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2021.806457] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2021] [Accepted: 12/16/2021] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Immune checkpoint therapies such as PD-1 blockade have vastly improved the treatment of numerous cancers, including basal cell carcinoma (BCC). However, patients afflicted with pancreatic ductal carcinoma (PDAC), one of the deadliest malignancies, overwhelmingly exhibit negative responses to checkpoint therapy. We sought to combine data analysis and machine learning to differentiate the putative mechanisms of BCC and PDAC non-response. We discover that increased MHC-I expression in malignant cells and suppression of MHC and PD-1/PD-L expression in CD8+ T cells is associated with nonresponse to treatment. Furthermore, we leverage machine learning to predict response to PD-1 blockade on a cellular level. We confirm divergent resistance mechanisms between BCC, PDAC, and melanoma and highlight the potential for rapid and affordable testing of gene expression in BCC patients to accurately predict response to checkpoint therapies. Our findings present an optimistic outlook for the use of quantitative cross-cancer analyses in characterizing immune responses and predicting immunotherapy outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryan Liu
- Department of Mathematics, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States
| | - Emmanuel Dollinger
- Department of Mathematics, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States,Department of Developmental and Cell Biology, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States,Center for Complex Biological Systems, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States,NSF-Simons Center for Multiscale Cell Fate Research, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States,*Correspondence: Emmanuel Dollinger, ; Qing Nie,
| | - Qing Nie
- Department of Mathematics, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States,Department of Developmental and Cell Biology, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States,Center for Complex Biological Systems, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States,NSF-Simons Center for Multiscale Cell Fate Research, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States,*Correspondence: Emmanuel Dollinger, ; Qing Nie,
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40
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Chen J, Wang G, Zhang D, Luo X, Zhang D, Zhang Y. Construction of novel hypoxia-related gene model for prognosis and tumor microenvironment in endometrial carcinoma. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne) 2022; 13:1075431. [PMID: 36589842 PMCID: PMC9797861 DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2022.1075431] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2022] [Accepted: 12/02/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Endometrial cancer is currently one of the three most common female reproductive cancers, which seriously threatens women's lives and health. Hypoxia disrupts the tumor microenvironment, thereby affecting tumor progression and drug resistance. METHODS We established hypoxia-related gene model to predict patient prognosis and 1-, 3-, and 5-year overall survival rates. Then, the expression level of hypoxia-related genes and survival data were extracted for comprehensive analysis by Cox regression analysis, and the model was established. RESULTS We analyzed the survival and prognosis of patients in the high and low-risk groups. The Kaplan-Meier curve showed that the low-risk group is associated with a better survival rate. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year AUC values of the model were 0.680, 0.698, and 0.687, respectively. Finally, we found that LAG3 may be a potential immune checkpoint for endometrial cancer. CONCLUSION We found four hypoxia-related genes (ANXA2, AKAP12, NR3C1, and GPI) associated with prognosis. The hypoxia-related gene model can also predict prognosis and tumor microenvironment in endometrial cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Junfeng Chen
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Maternal Fetal Medicine, Shanghai Institute of Maternal-Fetal Medicine and Gynecologic Oncology, Shanghai First Maternity and Infant Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
| | - Guocheng Wang
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Maternal Fetal Medicine, Shanghai Institute of Maternal-Fetal Medicine and Gynecologic Oncology, Shanghai First Maternity and Infant Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
| | - Donghai Zhang
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Maternal Fetal Medicine, Shanghai Institute of Maternal-Fetal Medicine and Gynecologic Oncology, Shanghai First Maternity and Infant Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
| | - Xiaomei Luo
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Maternal Fetal Medicine, Shanghai Institute of Maternal-Fetal Medicine and Gynecologic Oncology, Shanghai First Maternity and Infant Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
| | - Da Zhang
- Department of Gynecological Oncology, Changchun Center Hospital, Changchun, Jilin, China
- *Correspondence: Yongli Zhang, ; Da Zhang,
| | - Yongli Zhang
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Maternal Fetal Medicine, Shanghai Institute of Maternal-Fetal Medicine and Gynecologic Oncology, Shanghai First Maternity and Infant Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
- *Correspondence: Yongli Zhang, ; Da Zhang,
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Goulart MR, Stasinos K, Fincham REA, Delvecchio FR, Kocher HM. T cells in pancreatic cancer stroma. World J Gastroenterol 2021; 27:7956-7968. [PMID: 35046623 PMCID: PMC8678814 DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v27.i46.7956] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2021] [Revised: 05/18/2021] [Accepted: 11/28/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a highly devastating disease with a dismal 5-year survival rate. PDAC has a complex tumour microenvironment; characterised by a robust desmoplastic stroma, extensive infiltration of immunesuppressive cells such as immature myeloid cells, tumour-associated macrophages, neutrophils and regulatory T cells, and the presence of exhausted and senescent T cells. The cross-talk between cells in this fibrotic tumour establishes an immune-privileged microenvironment that supports tumour cell escape from immune-surveillance, disease progression and spread to distant organs. PDAC tumours, considered to be non-immunogenic or cold, express low mutation burden, low infiltration of CD8+ cytotoxic lymphocytes that are localised along the invasive margin of the tumour border in the surrounding fibrotic tissue, and often display an exhausted phenotype. Here, we review the role of T cells in pancreatic cancer, examine the complex interactions of these crucial effector units within pancreatic cancer stroma and shed light on the increasingly attractive use of T cells as therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michelle R Goulart
- Centre for Tumour Biology Barts Cancer Institute-A CRUK Centre of Excellence, Queen Mary University of London, London EC1M 6BQ, United Kingdom
| | - Konstantinos Stasinos
- Centre for Tumour Biology Barts Cancer Institute-A CRUK Centre of Excellence, Queen Mary University of London, London EC1M 6BQ, United Kingdom
- Barts and the London HPB Centre, The Royal London Hospital, Barts Health NHS Trust, London E1 1BB, United Kingdom
| | - Rachel Elizabeth Ann Fincham
- Centre for Tumour Biology Barts Cancer Institute-A CRUK Centre of Excellence, Queen Mary University of London, London EC1M 6BQ, United Kingdom
| | - Francesca R Delvecchio
- Centre for Tumour Biology Barts Cancer Institute-A CRUK Centre of Excellence, Queen Mary University of London, London EC1M 6BQ, United Kingdom
- Centre for Experimental Medicine and Rheumatology, William Harvey Research Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London EC1M 6BQ, United Kingdom
| | - Hemant M Kocher
- Centre for Tumour Biology Barts Cancer Institute-A CRUK Centre of Excellence, Queen Mary University of London, London EC1M 6BQ, United Kingdom
- Barts and the London HPB Centre, The Royal London Hospital, Barts Health NHS Trust, London E1 1BB, United Kingdom
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42
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Prognostic Implications of Intratumoral and Peritumoral Infiltrating Lymphocytes in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma. Curr Oncol 2021; 28:4367-4376. [PMID: 34898543 PMCID: PMC8628731 DOI: 10.3390/curroncol28060371] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2021] [Revised: 10/26/2021] [Accepted: 10/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
This study aimed to elucidate the prognostic implications of intratumoral and peritumoral infiltrating T-lymphocytes in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) through a meta-analysis. A total of 18 eligible studies and 2453 PDAC patients were included in the present study. Intratumoral and peritumoral infiltrating lymphocytes were evaluated using various markers, such as CD3, CD4, CD8, FOXP3, and immune cell score. The correlations between these parameters and overall and disease-free survival were investigated and used in the meta-analysis. High intratumoral infiltration of CD3-, CD4-, and CD8-expressing lymphocytes was significantly correlated with better overall survival (hazard ratio (HR) 0.747, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.620-0.900, HR 0.755, 95% CI 0.632-0.902, and HR 0.754, 95% CI 0.611-0.930, respectively). However, there was no significant correlation between PDAC prognosis and intratumoral FOXP3 or immune cell score (HR 1.358, 95% CI 1.115-1.655 and HR 0.776, 95% CI 0.566-1.065, respectively). Moreover, there was no significant correlation between the prognosis and peritumoral infiltrating T-lymphocytes. In evaluations of disease-free survival, only high intratumoral CD4 infiltration was correlated with a better prognosis (HR 0.525, 95% CI 0.341-0.810). Our results showed that high intratumoral infiltrating lymphocytes were significantly correlated with a better PDAC prognosis. However, among the tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, CD3, CD4, and CD8 had prognostic implications, but not FOXP3 and immune cell score.
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Perales S, Torres C, Jimenez-Luna C, Prados J, Martinez-Galan J, Sanchez-Manas JM, Caba O. Liquid biopsy approach to pancreatic cancer. World J Gastrointest Oncol 2021; 13:1263-1287. [PMID: 34721766 PMCID: PMC8529923 DOI: 10.4251/wjgo.v13.i10.1263] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2021] [Revised: 05/18/2021] [Accepted: 08/27/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Pancreatic cancer (PC) continues to pose a major clinical challenge. There has been little improvement in patient survival over the past few decades, and it is projected to become the second leading cause of cancer mortality by 2030. The dismal 5-year survival rate of less than 10% after the diagnosis is attributable to the lack of early symptoms, the absence of specific biomarkers for an early diagnosis, and the inadequacy of available chemotherapies. Most patients are diagnosed when the disease has already metastasized and cannot be treated. Cancer interception is vital, actively intervening in the malignization process before the development of a full-blown advanced tumor. An early diagnosis of PC has a dramatic impact on the survival of patients, and improved techniques are urgently needed to detect and evaluate this disease at an early stage. It is difficult to obtain tissue biopsies from the pancreas due to its anatomical position; however, liquid biopsies are readily available and can provide useful information for the diagnosis, prognosis, stratification, and follow-up of patients with PC and for the design of individually tailored treatments. The aim of this review was to provide an update of the latest advances in knowledge on the application of carbohydrates, proteins, cell-free nucleic acids, circulating tumor cells, metabolome compounds, exosomes, and platelets in blood as potential biomarkers for PC, focusing on their clinical relevance and potential for improving patient outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sonia Perales
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology I, Faculty of Sciences, University of Granada, Granada 18071, Spain
| | - Carolina Torres
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology III and Immunology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Granada, Granada 18071, Spain
| | - Cristina Jimenez-Luna
- Institute of Biopathology and Regenerative Medicine (IBIMER), Center of Biomedical Research (CIBM), University of Granada, Granada 18100, Spain
| | - Jose Prados
- Institute of Biopathology and Regenerative Medicine (IBIMER), Center of Biomedical Research (CIBM), University of Granada, Granada 18100, Spain
| | - Joaquina Martinez-Galan
- Department of Medical Oncology, Hospital Universitario Virgen de las Nieves, Granada 18011, Spain
| | | | - Octavio Caba
- Institute of Biopathology and Regenerative Medicine (IBIMER), Center of Biomedical Research (CIBM), University of Granada, Granada 18100, Spain
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Pineda S, López de Maturana E, Yu K, Ravoor A, Wood I, Malats N, Sirota M. Tumor-Infiltrating B- and T-Cell Repertoire in Pancreatic Cancer Associated With Host and Tumor Features. Front Immunol 2021; 12:730746. [PMID: 34630409 PMCID: PMC8495220 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.730746] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2021] [Accepted: 09/02/2021] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Infiltrating B and T cells have been observed in several tumor tissues, including pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). The majority known PDAC risk factors point to a chronic inflammatory process leading to different forms of immunological infiltration. Understanding pancreatic tumor infiltration may lead to improved knowledge of this devastating disease. Methods We extracted the immunoglobulins (IGs) and T cell receptors (TCRs) from RNA-sequencing of 144 PDAC from TCGA and 180 pancreatic normal tissue from GTEx. We used Shannon entropy to find differences in IG/TCR diversity. We performed a clonotype analysis considering the IG clone definition (same V and J segments, same CDR3 length, and 90% nucleotide identity between CDR3s) to study differences among the tumor samples. Finally, we performed an association analysis to find host and tumor factors associated with the IG/TCR. Results PDAC presented a richer and more diverse IG and TCR infiltration than normal pancreatic tissue. A higher IG infiltration was present in heavy smokers and females and it was associated with better overall survival. In addition, specific IG clonotypes classified samples with better prognosis explaining 24% of the prognosis phenotypic variance. On the other hand, a larger TCR infiltration was present in patients with previous history of diabetes and was associated with lower nonantigen load. Conclusions Our findings support PDAC subtyping according to its immune repertoire landscape with a potential impact on the understanding of the inflammatory basis of PDAC risk factors as well as the design of treatment options and prognosis monitoring.
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Affiliation(s)
- Silvia Pineda
- Genetic and Molecular Epidemiology Group, Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), and Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red Cáncer (CIBERONC), Madrid, Spain.,Bakar Computational Health Sciences Institute, University of San Francisco, California (UCSF), San Francisco, CA, United States
| | - Evangelina López de Maturana
- Genetic and Molecular Epidemiology Group, Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), and Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red Cáncer (CIBERONC), Madrid, Spain
| | - Katharine Yu
- Bakar Computational Health Sciences Institute, University of San Francisco, California (UCSF), San Francisco, CA, United States.,Department of Pediatrics, University of San Francisco, California (UCSF), San Francisco, CA, United States
| | - Akshay Ravoor
- Bakar Computational Health Sciences Institute, University of San Francisco, California (UCSF), San Francisco, CA, United States
| | - Inés Wood
- Genetic and Molecular Epidemiology Group, Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), and Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red Cáncer (CIBERONC), Madrid, Spain
| | - Núria Malats
- Genetic and Molecular Epidemiology Group, Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), and Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red Cáncer (CIBERONC), Madrid, Spain
| | - Marina Sirota
- Bakar Computational Health Sciences Institute, University of San Francisco, California (UCSF), San Francisco, CA, United States.,Department of Pediatrics, University of San Francisco, California (UCSF), San Francisco, CA, United States
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Zhou L, Wang J, Zhang XX, Lyu SC, Pan LC, Du GS, Lang R, He Q. Prognostic Value of Preoperative NLR and Vascular Reconstructive Technology in Patients With Pancreatic Cancer of Portal System Invasion: A Real World Study. Front Oncol 2021; 11:682928. [PMID: 34604028 PMCID: PMC8484969 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2021.682928] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2021] [Accepted: 08/30/2021] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
The purpose was aimed to establish a simple computational model to predict tumor prognosis by combining neutrophil to lymphocyte Ratio (NLR) and biomarkers of oncological characteristics in patients undergoing vascular reconstructive radical resection of PDAC. The enrolled patients was divided into high or low NLR group with the cutoff value determined by the receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve. Different vascular anastomoses were selected according to the Chaoyang classification of PDAC. Survival rates were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier and evaluated with the log-rank test. Cox risk regression model was used to analyze the independent risk factors for prognostic survival. The optimal cut-off value of NRL was correlated with the differentiation, tumor size, TNM stage and distant metastasis of advanced PDAC. A curative resection with vascular reconstructive of advanced PDAC according to Chaoyang classification can obviously improve the survival benefits. Cox proportional hazards demonstrated higher evaluated NLR, incisal margin R1 and lymphatic metastasis were the independent risk predictor for prognosis with the HR > 2, meanwhile, age beyond 55, TNM stage of III-IV or Tumor size > 4cm were also the obvious independent risk predictor for prognosis with the HR ≤ 2. The advanced PADC patients marked of RS group (3 < RS ≤ 6) showed no more than 24 months of survival time according to RS model based on the six independent risk predictors. Vascular reconstruction in radical resection of advanced PDAC improved survival, higher elevated NLR (>2.90) was a negative predictor of DFS and OS in those patients accompanying portal system invasion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lin Zhou
- Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreaticosplenic Surgery, Beijing ChaoYang Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Jing Wang
- Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreaticosplenic Surgery, Beijing ChaoYang Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Xin-Xue Zhang
- Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreaticosplenic Surgery, Beijing ChaoYang Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Shao-Cheng Lyu
- Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreaticosplenic Surgery, Beijing ChaoYang Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Li-Chao Pan
- Faculty of Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Surgery, Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) General Hospital, Beijing, China
| | - Guo-Sheng Du
- Faculty of Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Surgery, Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) General Hospital, Beijing, China
| | - Ren Lang
- Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreaticosplenic Surgery, Beijing ChaoYang Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Qiang He
- Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreaticosplenic Surgery, Beijing ChaoYang Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
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The tumor microenvironment in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma: current perspectives and future directions. Cancer Metastasis Rev 2021; 40:675-689. [PMID: 34591240 DOI: 10.1007/s10555-021-09988-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is among the most lethal malignancies and is characterized by a unique tumor microenvironment (TME) consisting of an abundant stromal component. Many features contained with the PDAC stroma contribute to resistance to cytotoxic and immunotherapeutic regimens, as well as the propensity for this tumor to metastasize. At the cellular level, PDAC cells crosstalk with a complex mixture of non-neoplastic cell types including fibroblasts, endothelial cells, and immune cells. These intricate interactions fuel the progression and therapeutic resistance of this aggressive cancer. Moreover, data suggest the polarization of these cell types, in particular immune and fibroblast populations, dictate how PDAC tumors grow, metastasize, and respond to therapy. As a result, current research is focused on how to best target these populations to render tumors responsive to treatment. Herein, we summarize the cell populations implicated in providing a supporting role for the development and progression of PDAC. We focus on stromal fibroblasts and immune subsets that have been widely researched. We discuss factors which govern the phenotype of these populations and provide insight on how they have been targeted therapeutically. This review provides an overview of the tumor microenvironment and postulates that cellular and soluble factors within the microenvironment can be specifically targeted to improve patient outcomes.
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Stifter K, Krieger J, Ruths L, Gout J, Mulaw M, Lechel A, Kleger A, Seufferlein T, Wagner M, Schirmbeck R. IFN-γ treatment protocol for MHC-I lo/PD-L1 + pancreatic tumor cells selectively restores their TAP-mediated presentation competence and CD8 T-cell priming potential. J Immunother Cancer 2021; 8:jitc-2020-000692. [PMID: 32868392 PMCID: PMC7462314 DOI: 10.1136/jitc-2020-000692] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/30/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Many cancer cells express a major histocompatibility complex class I low/ programmed cell death 1 ligand 1 positive (MHC-Ilo/PD-L1+) cell surface profile. For immunotherapy, there is, thus, an urgent need to restore presentation competence of cancer cells with defects in MHC-I processing/presentation combined with immune interventions that tackle the tumor-initiated PD-L1/PD-1 signaling axis. Using pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma cells (PDACCs) as a model, we here explored if (and how) expression/processing of tumor antigens via transporters associated with antigen processing (TAP) affects priming of CD8 T cells in PD-1/PD-L1-competent/-deficient mice. Methods We generated tumor antigen-expressing vectors, immunized TAP-competent/-deficient mice and determined de novo primed CD8 T-cell frequencies by flow cytometry. Similarly, we explored the antigenicity and PD-L1/PD-1 sensitivity of PDACCs versus interferon-γ (IFN-γ)-treated PDACCs in PD-1/PD-L1-competent/deficient mice. The IFN-γ-induced effects on gene and cell surface expression profiles were determined by microarrays and flow cytometry. Results We identified two antigens (cripto-1 and an endogenous leukemia virus-derived gp70) that were expressed in the Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER) of PDACCs and induced CD8 T-cell responses either independent (Cripto-1:Kb/Cr16-24) or dependent (gp70:Kb/p15E) on TAP by DNA immunization. IFN-γ-treatment of PDACCs in vitro upregulated MHC-I- and TAP- but also PD-L1-expression. Mechanistically, PD-L1/PD-1 signaling was superior to the reconstitution of MHC-I presentation competence, as subcutaneously transplanted IFN-γ-treated PDACCs developed tumors in C57BL/6J and PD-L1-/- but not in PD-1-/- mice. Using PDACCs, irradiated at day 3 post-IFN-γ-treatment or PD-L1 knockout PDACCs as vaccines, we could selectively bypass upregulation of PD-L1, preferentially induce TAP-dependent gp70:Kb/p15E-specific CD8 T cells associated with a weakened PD-1+ exhaustion phenotype and reject consecutively injected tumor transplants in C57BL/6J mice. Conclusions The IFN-γ-treatment protocol is attractive for cell-based immunotherapies, because it restores TAP-dependent antigen processing in cancer cells, facilitates priming of TAP-dependent effector CD8 T-cell responses without additional check point inhibitors and could be combined with genetic vaccines that complement priming of TAP-independent CD8 T cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katja Stifter
- Internal Medicine I, University Hospital Ulm, Ulm, Germany
| | - Jana Krieger
- Internal Medicine I, University Hospital Ulm, Ulm, Germany
| | - Leonie Ruths
- Internal Medicine I, University Hospital Ulm, Ulm, Germany
| | - Johann Gout
- Internal Medicine I, University Hospital Ulm, Ulm, Germany
| | - Medhanie Mulaw
- Institute of Experimental Cancer Research, University Hospital Ulm, Ulm, Germany
| | - Andre Lechel
- Internal Medicine I, University Hospital Ulm, Ulm, Germany
| | | | | | - Martin Wagner
- Internal Medicine I, University Hospital Ulm, Ulm, Germany
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Dysregulation of miRNAs Targeting the IGF-1R Pathway in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma. Cells 2021; 10:cells10081856. [PMID: 34440625 PMCID: PMC8391367 DOI: 10.3390/cells10081856] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2021] [Revised: 07/19/2021] [Accepted: 07/20/2021] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), the most prevalent neoplastic lethal pancreatic disease, has a poor prognosis and an increasing incidence. The insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF-1R) signaling pathway is considered to be a contributing factor to the progression, metastasis, and therapy resistance of PDAC. Currently available treatment options for PDAC are limited, but microRNAs (miRNAs) may represent a new therapeutic strategy for targeting genes involved in the IGF-1R signaling pathway. Method: We investigated the expression levels of 21 miRNAs involved in the IGF-1R signaling pathway in pancreatic tissue from 38 patients with PDAC and 11 controls (five patients with chronic pancreatitis and six patients with normal pancreatic tissue). Results: We found 19 differentially expressed miRNAs between the PDAC cases and the controls. In particular, miR-100-5p, miR-145-5p, miR-29c-3p, miR-9-5p, and miR-195-5p were exclusively downregulated in PDAC tissue but not in chronic pancreatitis or normal pancreatic tissues; both control types presented similar levels. We also identified miR-29a-3p, miR-29b-3p, and miR-7-5p as downregulated miRNAs in PDAC tissues as compared with normal tissues but not with pancreatitis tissues. Conclusions: We identified a panel of miRNAs that could represent putative therapeutic targets for the development of new miRNA-based therapies for PDAC.
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Mosier BR, Bantis LE. Estimation and construction of confidence intervals for biomarker cutoff-points under the shortest Euclidean distance from the ROC surface to the perfection corner. Stat Med 2021; 40:4522-4539. [PMID: 34080733 DOI: 10.1002/sim.9077] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2020] [Revised: 04/10/2021] [Accepted: 05/12/2021] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is an aggressive type of cancer with a 5-year survival rate of less than 5%. As in many other diseases, its diagnosis might involve progressive stages. It is common that in biomarker studies referring to PDAC, recruitment involves three groups: healthy individuals, patients that suffer from chronic pancreatitis, and PDAC patients. Early detection and accurate classification of the state of the disease are crucial for patients' successful treatment. ROC analysis is the most popular way to evaluate the performance of a biomarker and the Youden index is commonly employed for cutoff derivation. The so-called generalized Youden index has a drawback in the three-class case of not accommodating the full data set when estimating the optimal cutoffs. In this article, we explore the use of the Euclidean distance of the ROC to the perfection corner for the derivation of cutoffs in trichotomous settings. We construct an inferential framework that involves both parametric and nonparametric techniques. Our methods can accommodate the full information of a given data set and thus provide more accurate estimates in terms of the decision-making cutoffs compared with a Youden-based strategy. We evaluate our approaches through extensive simulations and illustrate them on a PDAC biomarker study.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian R Mosier
- Department of Biostatistics & Data Science, The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas, USA
| | - Leonidas E Bantis
- Department of Biostatistics & Data Science, The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas, USA
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50
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Notch signaling inhibitor and anti-PD-L1 antibody combination therapies decelerate tumor progression in pancreatic cancer. JOURNAL OF PANCREATOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.1097/jp9.0000000000000073] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
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