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Wang X, Chen D, Ma Y, Mo D, Yan F. Variation of peripheral blood-based biomarkers for response of anti-PD-1 immunotherapy in non-small-cell lung cancer. Clin Transl Oncol 2024; 26:1934-1943. [PMID: 38451413 PMCID: PMC11249409 DOI: 10.1007/s12094-024-03416-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2024] [Accepted: 02/20/2024] [Indexed: 03/08/2024]
Abstract
PURPOSE Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) for non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are on the rise, but unfortunately, only a small percentage of patients benefit from them in the long term. Thus, it is crucial to identify biomarkers that can forecast the efficacy of immunotherapy. METHODS We retrospectively studied 224 patients with NSCLC who underwent anti-PD-1 therapy. The role of biomarkers and clinical characteristics were assessed in a prognostic model. RESULTS Only 14.3% of patients had both programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) and tumor mutational burden (TMB) outcomes, highlighting the need to investigate more available biomarkers. Our analysis found a correlation between histological PD-L1 TPS and hematological PD-1 expression. Analysis of hematological biomarkers revealed that elevated expression of CD4/CD8 and LYM% are positively associated with effective immunotherapy, while PD-1+ on T cells, NLR, and MLR have a negative impact. Moreover, high level of ΔCEA%, CYFRA21-1 and LDH may suggest ineffective ICIs. We also observed that disparate immunotherapy drugs didn't significantly impact prognosis. Lastly, by comparing squamous carcinoma and adenocarcinoma cohorts, ΔCEA%, CD3+PD-1+, CD4+PD-1+, and CD4/CD8 are more important in predicting the prognosis of adenocarcinoma patients, while age is more significant for squamous carcinoma patients. CONCLUSION Our research has yielded encouraging results in identifying a correlation between immunotherapy's response and clinical characteristics, peripheral immune cell subsets, and biochemical and immunological biomarkers. The screened hematological detection panel could be used to forecast an NSCLC patient's response to anti-PD-1 immunotherapy with an accuracy rate of 76.3%, which could help customize suitable therapeutic decision-making.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoming Wang
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, Nanjing Medical University Affiliated Cancer Hospital & Jiangsu Cancer Hospital & Jiangsu Institute of Cancer Research, Baizi Ting No.42, Nanjing, 210009, Jiangsu, China
| | - Dayu Chen
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, Nanjing Medical University Affiliated Cancer Hospital & Jiangsu Cancer Hospital & Jiangsu Institute of Cancer Research, Baizi Ting No.42, Nanjing, 210009, Jiangsu, China
| | - Yuyan Ma
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, Nanjing Medical University Affiliated Cancer Hospital & Jiangsu Cancer Hospital & Jiangsu Institute of Cancer Research, Baizi Ting No.42, Nanjing, 210009, Jiangsu, China
| | - Dongping Mo
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, Nanjing Medical University Affiliated Cancer Hospital & Jiangsu Cancer Hospital & Jiangsu Institute of Cancer Research, Baizi Ting No.42, Nanjing, 210009, Jiangsu, China
| | - Feng Yan
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, Nanjing Medical University Affiliated Cancer Hospital & Jiangsu Cancer Hospital & Jiangsu Institute of Cancer Research, Baizi Ting No.42, Nanjing, 210009, Jiangsu, China.
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2
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da Silva GB, Manica D, da Silva AP, Valcarenghi E, Donassolo SR, Kosvoski GC, Mingoti MED, Gavioli J, Cassol JV, Hanauer MC, Hellmann MB, Marafon F, Bertollo AG, de Medeiros J, Cortez AD, Réus GZ, de Oliveira GG, Ignácio ZM, Bagatini MD. Peripheral biomarkers as a predictor of poor prognosis in severe cases of COVID-19. Am J Med Sci 2024; 368:122-135. [PMID: 38636654 DOI: 10.1016/j.amjms.2024.04.011] [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: 10/03/2023] [Revised: 12/29/2023] [Accepted: 04/15/2024] [Indexed: 04/20/2024]
Abstract
We evaluated glycemia and triglyceride, hepatic, muscular, and renal damage markers, redox profile, and leptin and ghrelin hormone levels in COVID-19 patients. We also conducted statistical analysis to verify the potential of biomarkers to predict poor prognosis and the correlation between them in severe cases. We assessed glycemia and the levels of triglycerides, hepatic, muscular, and renal markers in automatized biochemical analyzer. The leptin and ghrelin hormones were assessed by the ELISA assay. Severe cases presented high glycemia and triglyceride levels. Hepatic, muscular, and renal biomarkers were altered in severe patients. Oxidative stress status was found in severe COVID-19 patients. Severe cases also had increased levels of leptin. The ROC curves indicated many biomarkers as poor prognosis predictors in severe cases. The Spearman analysis showed that biomarkers correlate between themselves. Patients with COVID-19 showed significant dysregulation in the levels of several peripheral biomarkers. We bring to light that a robust panel of peripheral biomarkers and hormones predict poor prognosis in severe cases of COVID-19 and biomarkers correlate with each other. Early monitoring of these biomarkers may lead to appropriate clinical interventions in patients infected by SARS-CoV2.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gilnei B da Silva
- Multicentric Postgraduate Program in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, State University of Santa Catarina, Lages, SC, Brazil
| | - Daiane Manica
- Postgraduate Program in Biochemistry, Federal University of Santa Catarina, SC, Brazil
| | - Alana P da Silva
- Postgraduate Program in Biochemistry, Federal University of Santa Catarina, SC, Brazil
| | - Eduarda Valcarenghi
- Postgraduate Program in Biomedical Sciences, Federal University of Fronteira Sul, Chapecó, SC, Brazil
| | - Sabine R Donassolo
- Postgraduate Program in Biomedical Sciences, Federal University of Fronteira Sul, Chapecó, SC, Brazil
| | - Greicy C Kosvoski
- Postgraduate Program in Biomedical Sciences, Federal University of Fronteira Sul, Chapecó, SC, Brazil
| | - Maiqueli E D Mingoti
- Postgraduate Program in Biomedical Sciences, Federal University of Fronteira Sul, Chapecó, SC, Brazil
| | - Jullye Gavioli
- Postgraduate Program in Biomedical Sciences, Federal University of Fronteira Sul, Chapecó, SC, Brazil
| | - Joana V Cassol
- Postgraduate Program in Biomedical Sciences, Federal University of Fronteira Sul, Chapecó, SC, Brazil
| | - Marceli C Hanauer
- Postgraduate Program in Biomedical Sciences, Federal University of Fronteira Sul, Chapecó, SC, Brazil
| | - Mariélly B Hellmann
- Postgraduate Program in Biomedical Sciences, Federal University of Fronteira Sul, Chapecó, SC, Brazil
| | - Filomena Marafon
- Postgraduate Program in Biomedical Sciences, Federal University of Fronteira Sul, Chapecó, SC, Brazil
| | - Amanda G Bertollo
- Postgraduate Program in Biomedical Sciences, Federal University of Fronteira Sul, Chapecó, SC, Brazil
| | - Jesiel de Medeiros
- Postgraduate Program in Biomedical Sciences, Federal University of Fronteira Sul, Chapecó, SC, Brazil
| | - Arthur D Cortez
- Postgraduate Program in Biomedical Sciences, Federal University of Fronteira Sul, Chapecó, SC, Brazil
| | - Gislaine Z Réus
- Postgraduate Program in Health Sciences, Translational Psychiatry Laboratory, University of Southern Santa Catarina, Criciúma, SC, Brazil
| | - Gabriela G de Oliveira
- Postgraduate Program in Biomedical Sciences, Federal University of Fronteira Sul, Chapecó, SC, Brazil
| | - Zuleide M Ignácio
- Postgraduate Program in Biomedical Sciences, Federal University of Fronteira Sul, Chapecó, SC, Brazil
| | - Margarete D Bagatini
- Postgraduate Program in Biochemistry, Federal University of Santa Catarina, SC, Brazil; Postgraduate Program in Biomedical Sciences, Federal University of Fronteira Sul, Chapecó, SC, Brazil.
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3
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Li T, Ma W, Al-Obeidi E. Evolving Precision First-Line Systemic Treatment for Patients with Unresectable Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. Cancers (Basel) 2024; 16:2350. [PMID: 39001412 PMCID: PMC11240640 DOI: 10.3390/cancers16132350] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2024] [Revised: 06/24/2024] [Accepted: 06/25/2024] [Indexed: 07/16/2024] Open
Abstract
First-line systemic therapy for patients with advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has rapidly evolved over the past two decades. First, molecularly targeted therapy for a growing number of gain-of-function molecular targets has been shown to improve progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) with favorable toxicity profiles compared to platinum-containing chemotherapy and can be given as first-line systemic therapy in ~25% of patients with NSCLC. Actionable genetic alterations include EGFR, BRAF V600E, and MET exon 14 splicing site-sensitizing mutations, as well as ALK-, ROS1-, RET-, and NTRK-gene fusions. Secondly, inhibitors of programmed cell death protein 1 or its ligand 1 (PD-1/L1) such as pembrolizumab, atezolizumab, or cemiplimab monotherapy have become a standard of care for ~25% of patients with NSCLC whose tumors have high PD-L1 expression (total proportion score (TPS) ≥50%) and no sensitizing EGFR/ALK alterations. Lastly, for the remaining ~50% of patients who are fit and whose tumors have no or low PD-L1 expression (TPS of 0-49%) and no sensitizing EGFR/ALK aberrations, platinum-containing chemotherapy with the addition of a PD-1/L1 inhibitor alone or in combination of a cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (CTLA-4) inhibitor improves PFS and OS compared to chemotherapy alone. The objectives of this review are to summarize the current data and perspectives on first-line systemic treatment in patients with unresectable NSCLC and propose a practical algorithm for implementing precision biomarker testing at diagnosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tianhong Li
- Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of California Davis School of Medicine, University of California Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, Sacramento, CA 95817, USA; (W.M.)
- Medical Service, Hematology/Oncology, Veterans Affairs Northern California Health Care System, 10535 Hospital Way, Mather, CA 95655, USA
| | - Weijie Ma
- Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of California Davis School of Medicine, University of California Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, Sacramento, CA 95817, USA; (W.M.)
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH 03756, USA
| | - Ebaa Al-Obeidi
- Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of California Davis School of Medicine, University of California Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, Sacramento, CA 95817, USA; (W.M.)
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4
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Dalle S, Verronese E, N’Kodia A, Bardin C, Rodriguez C, Andrieu T, Eberhardt A, Chemin G, Hasan U, Le-Bouar M, Caramel J, Amini-Adle M, Bendriss-Vermare N, Dubois B, Caux C, Ménétrier-Caux C. Modulation of blood T cell polyfunctionality and HVEM/BTLA expression are critical determinants of clinical outcome in anti-PD1-treated metastatic melanoma patients. Oncoimmunology 2024; 13:2372118. [PMID: 38939518 PMCID: PMC11210932 DOI: 10.1080/2162402x.2024.2372118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2024] [Accepted: 06/20/2024] [Indexed: 06/29/2024] Open
Abstract
The need for reliable biomarkers to predict clinical benefit from anti-PD1 treatment in metastatic melanoma (MM) patients remains unmet. Several parameters have been considered in the tumor environment or the blood, but none has yet achieved sufficient accuracy for routine clinical practice. Whole blood samples from MM patients receiving second-line anti-PD1 treatment (NCT02626065), collected longitudinally, were analyzed by flow cytometry to assess the immune cell subsets absolute numbers, the expression of immune checkpoints or ligands on T cells and the functionality of innate immune cells and T cells. Clinical response was assessed according to Progression-Free Survival (PFS) status at one-year following initiation of anti-PD1 (responders: PFS > 1 year; non-responders: PFS ≤ 1 year). At baseline, several phenotypic and functional alterations in blood immune cells were observed in MM patients compared to healthy donors, but only the proportion of polyfunctional memory CD4+ T cells was associated with response to anti-PD1. Under treatment, a decreased frequency of HVEM on CD4+ and CD8+ T cells after 3 months of treatment identified responding patients, whereas its receptor BTLA was not modulated. Both reduced proportion of CD69-expressing CD4+ and CD8+ T cells and increased number of polyfunctional blood memory T cells after 3 months of treatment were associated with response to anti-PD1. Of upmost importance, the combination of changes of all these markers accurately discriminated between responding and non-responding patients. These results suggest that drugs targeting HVEM/BTLA pathway may be of interest to improve anti-PD1 efficacy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stéphane Dalle
- Department of Dermatology, Centre Hospitalier Lyon Sud, Hospices Civils de Lyon, Lyon 1 University, Lyon, France
- Cancer Research Center of Lyon, INSERM 1052 - CNRS 5286, Centre Léon Bérard, Université de Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, France
| | - Estelle Verronese
- Lyon Immunotherapy for Cancer Laboratory (LICL), Centre Léon Bérard, Lyon, France
| | - Axelle N’Kodia
- Lyon Immunotherapy for Cancer Laboratory (LICL), Centre Léon Bérard, Lyon, France
| | - Christine Bardin
- Lyon Immunotherapy for Cancer Laboratory (LICL), Centre Léon Bérard, Lyon, France
| | - Céline Rodriguez
- Cancer Research Center of Lyon, INSERM 1052 - CNRS 5286, Centre Léon Bérard, Université de Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, France
- Lyon Immunotherapy for Cancer Laboratory (LICL), Centre Léon Bérard, Lyon, France
| | - Thibault Andrieu
- Cancer Research Center of Lyon, INSERM 1052 - CNRS 5286, Centre Léon Bérard, Université de Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, France
- Lyon Immunotherapy for Cancer Laboratory (LICL), Centre Léon Bérard, Lyon, France
| | - Anais Eberhardt
- Department of Dermatology, Centre Hospitalier Lyon Sud, Hospices Civils de Lyon, Lyon 1 University, Lyon, France
- Cancer Research Center of Lyon, INSERM 1052 - CNRS 5286, Centre Léon Bérard, Université de Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, France
| | - Gabriel Chemin
- Cancer Research Center of Lyon, INSERM 1052 - CNRS 5286, Centre Léon Bérard, Université de Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, France
| | - Uzma Hasan
- Lyon Immunotherapy for Cancer Laboratory (LICL), Centre Léon Bérard, Lyon, France
| | - Myrtille Le-Bouar
- Department of Dermatology, Centre Hospitalier Lyon Sud, Hospices Civils de Lyon, Lyon 1 University, Lyon, France
| | - Julie Caramel
- Cancer Research Center of Lyon, INSERM 1052 - CNRS 5286, Centre Léon Bérard, Université de Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, France
| | - Mona Amini-Adle
- Department of Dermatology, Centre Hospitalier Lyon Sud, Hospices Civils de Lyon, Lyon 1 University, Lyon, France
| | - Nathalie Bendriss-Vermare
- Cancer Research Center of Lyon, INSERM 1052 - CNRS 5286, Centre Léon Bérard, Université de Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, France
- Lyon Immunotherapy for Cancer Laboratory (LICL), Centre Léon Bérard, Lyon, France
| | - Bertrand Dubois
- Cancer Research Center of Lyon, INSERM 1052 - CNRS 5286, Centre Léon Bérard, Université de Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, France
- Lyon Immunotherapy for Cancer Laboratory (LICL), Centre Léon Bérard, Lyon, France
| | - Christophe Caux
- Cancer Research Center of Lyon, INSERM 1052 - CNRS 5286, Centre Léon Bérard, Université de Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, France
- Lyon Immunotherapy for Cancer Laboratory (LICL), Centre Léon Bérard, Lyon, France
| | - Christine Ménétrier-Caux
- Cancer Research Center of Lyon, INSERM 1052 - CNRS 5286, Centre Léon Bérard, Université de Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, France
- Lyon Immunotherapy for Cancer Laboratory (LICL), Centre Léon Bérard, Lyon, France
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5
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Liao L, Tsai C, Li P, Lee C, Lin S, Lai W, Chen I, Chang C, Lee J, Chiu Y. Characterization of unique pattern of immune cell profile in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma through flow cytometry and machine learning. J Cell Mol Med 2024; 28:e18404. [PMID: 38888489 PMCID: PMC11184936 DOI: 10.1111/jcmm.18404] [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: 01/14/2024] [Revised: 04/19/2024] [Accepted: 05/02/2024] [Indexed: 06/20/2024] Open
Abstract
In patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), the alteration of immune responses in peripheral blood remains unclear. In this study, we established an immune cell profile for patients with NPC and used flow cytometry and machine learning (ML) to identify the characteristics of this profile. After isolation of circulating leukocytes, the proportions of 104 immune cell subsets were compared between NPC group and the healthy control group (HC). Data obtained from the immune cell profile were subjected to ML training to differentiate between the immune cell profiles of the NPC and HC groups. We observed that subjects in the NPC group presented higher proportions of T cells, memory B cells, short-lived plasma cells, IgG-positive B cells, regulatory T cells, MHC II+ T cells, CTLA4+ T cells and PD-1+ T cells than subjects in the HC group, indicating weaker and compromised cellular and humoral immune responses. ML revealed that monocytes, PD-1+ CD4 T cells, memory B cells, CTLA4+ CD4 Treg cells and PD-1+ CD8 T cells were strongly contributed to the difference in immune cell profiles between the NPC and HC groups. This alteration can be fundamental in developing novel immunotherapies for NPC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Li‐Jen Liao
- Department of OtolaryngologyFar Eastern Memorial HospitalNew Taipei CityTaiwan
| | - Chien‐Chen Tsai
- Department of Anatomical PathologyFar Eastern Memorial HospitalNew Taipei CityTaiwan
| | - Po‐Yu Li
- FullHope Biomedical Co., LtdNew Taipei CityTaiwan
| | | | | | - Wan‐Yu Lai
- FullHope Biomedical Co., LtdNew Taipei CityTaiwan
| | - I‐Yu Chen
- Division of Nephrology, Department of MedicineFar Eastern Memorial HospitalNew Taipei CityTaiwan
| | - Chiung‐Fang Chang
- Department of Medical ResearchFar Eastern Memorial HospitalNew Taipei CityTaiwan
| | - Jan‐Mou Lee
- FullHope Biomedical Co., LtdNew Taipei CityTaiwan
| | - Yen‐Ling Chiu
- Division of Nephrology, Department of MedicineFar Eastern Memorial HospitalNew Taipei CityTaiwan
- Department of Medical ResearchFar Eastern Memorial HospitalNew Taipei CityTaiwan
- Graduate Institute of Medicine and Graduate Program in Biomedical InformaticsYuan Ze UniversityTaoyuanTaiwan
- Graduate Institute of Clinical MedicineNational Taiwan University College of MedicineTaipeiTaiwan
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6
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Liu J, Mao Y, Mao C, Wang D, Dong L, Zhu W. An On-Treatment Decreased Trend of Serum IL-6 and IL-8 as Predictive Markers Quickly Reflects Short-Term Efficacy of PD-1 Blockade Immunochemotherapy in Patients with Advanced Gastric Cancer. J Immunol Res 2024; 2024:3604935. [PMID: 38774604 PMCID: PMC11108694 DOI: 10.1155/2024/3604935] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2023] [Revised: 04/19/2024] [Accepted: 05/03/2024] [Indexed: 05/24/2024] Open
Abstract
Objective Immunotherapy has proven effective in treating advanced gastric cancer (AGC), yet its benefits are limited to a subset of patients. Our aim is to swiftly identify prognostic biomarkers using cytokines to improve the precision of clinical guidance and decision-making for PD-1 inhibitor-based cancer immunotherapy in AGC. Materials and Methods The retrospective study compared 36 patients with AGC who received combined anti-PD-1 immunotherapy and chemotherapy (immunochemotherapy) with a control group of 20 patients who received chemotherapy alone. The concentrations of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-2R, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, and IL-17 in the serum were assessed using chemiluminescence immunoassay at three distinct time intervals following the commencement of immunochemotherapy. Results When compared to controls, patients undergoing immunochemotherapy demonstrated a generalized rise in cytokine levels after the start of treatment. However, patients who benefited from immunochemotherapy showed a decrease in IL-6 or IL-8 concentrations throughout treatment (with varied trends observed for IL-1β, IL-2R, IL-10, IL-17, and TNF-α) was evident in patients benefiting from immunochemotherapy but not in those who did not benefit. Among these markers, the combination of IL-6, IL-8, and CEA showed optimal predictive performance for short-term efficacy of immunochemotherapy in AGC patients. Conclusion Reductions in IL-6/IL-8 levels observed during immunochemotherapy correlated with increased responsiveness to treatment effectiveness. These easily accessible blood-based biomarkers are predictive and rapid and may play a crucial role in identifying individuals likely to derive benefits from PD-1 blockade immunotherapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiameng Liu
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, The Affiliated Hospital of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu 212001, China
| | - Yufei Mao
- Department of Ultrasound Medicine, The Affiliated Hospital of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu 212001, China
| | - Chaoming Mao
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, The Affiliated Hospital of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu 212001, China
| | - Deqiang Wang
- Department of Oncology, Institute of Digestive Diseases, The Affiliated Hospital of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu 212001, China
| | - Liyang Dong
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, The Affiliated Hospital of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu 212001, China
| | - Wei Zhu
- School of Medicine, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu 212013, China
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7
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Dyikanov D, Zaitsev A, Vasileva T, Wang I, Sokolov AA, Bolshakov ES, Frank A, Turova P, Golubeva O, Gantseva A, Kamysheva A, Shpudeiko P, Krauz I, Abdou M, Chasse M, Conroy T, Merriam NR, Alesse JE, English N, Shpak B, Shchetsova A, Tikhonov E, Filatov I, Radko A, Bolshakova A, Kachalova A, Lugovykh N, Bulahov A, Kilina A, Asanbekov S, Zheleznyak I, Skoptsov P, Alekseeva E, Johnson JM, Curry JM, Linnenbach AJ, South AP, Yang E, Morozov K, Terenteva A, Nigmatullina L, Fastovetz D, Bobe A, Balabanian L, Nomie K, Yong ST, Davitt CJH, Ryabykh A, Kudryashova O, Tazearslan C, Bagaev A, Fowler N, Luginbuhl AJ, Ataullakhanov RI, Goldberg MF. Comprehensive peripheral blood immunoprofiling reveals five immunotypes with immunotherapy response characteristics in patients with cancer. Cancer Cell 2024; 42:759-779.e12. [PMID: 38744245 DOI: 10.1016/j.ccell.2024.04.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2023] [Revised: 02/20/2024] [Accepted: 04/15/2024] [Indexed: 05/16/2024]
Abstract
The lack of comprehensive diagnostics and consensus analytical models for evaluating the status of a patient's immune system has hindered a wider adoption of immunoprofiling for treatment monitoring and response prediction in cancer patients. To address this unmet need, we developed an immunoprofiling platform that uses multiparameter flow cytometry to characterize immune cell heterogeneity in the peripheral blood of healthy donors and patients with advanced cancers. Using unsupervised clustering, we identified five immunotypes with unique distributions of different cell types and gene expression profiles. An independent analysis of 17,800 open-source transcriptomes with the same approach corroborated these findings. Continuous immunotype-based signature scores were developed to correlate systemic immunity with patient responses to different cancer treatments, including immunotherapy, prognostically and predictively. Our approach and findings illustrate the potential utility of a simple blood test as a flexible tool for stratifying cancer patients into therapy response groups based on systemic immunoprofiling.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Jennifer M Johnson
- Department of Medical Oncology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Joseph M Curry
- Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Alban J Linnenbach
- Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Andrew P South
- Department of Pharmacology, Physiology, and Cancer Biology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - EnJun Yang
- The Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Adam J Luginbuhl
- Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
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8
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Schaper-Gerhardt K, Gutzmer R, Angela Y, Zimmer L, Livingstone E, Schadendorf D, Hassel JC, Weishaupt C, Remes B, Kubat L, Spassova I, Becker JC. The RANKL inhibitor denosumab in combination with dual checkpoint inhibition is associated with increased CXCL-13 serum concentrations. Eur J Cancer 2024; 202:113984. [PMID: 38479119 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejca.2024.113984] [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: 01/11/2024] [Revised: 02/27/2024] [Accepted: 02/28/2024] [Indexed: 04/21/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Recent evidence suggests additional immunomodulatory properties of RANKL inhibition possibly boosting the clinical efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI). METHODS We conducted a prospective, multicentre clinical trial in unresectable stage IV melanoma patients with bone metastases who received denosumab in parallel with dual ICI (BONEMET) and performed comprehensive immune monitoring at baseline and 4, 12, and 24 weeks after initiation of therapy. Secondary endpoints included tolerability and efficacy. For comparison, biospecimens from melanoma patients treated with dual ICI without denosumab were analyzed accordingly and served as retrospective reference cohort. RESULTS In both the BONEMET (n = 16) and the reference cohort (n = 18) serum levels of 17 cytokines, including IFNγ were significantly increased after 4 weeks of treatment. Patients who received ICI and denosumab showed a significantly higher increase in serum CXCL-13 and a significant decrease in VEGFc compared with the reference cohort. While no changes in T cell composition were observed at 4 weeks, patients in the BONEMET cohort showed a significant decrease in the peripheral naïve T-cell population and an increase in CD8+ effector cells after 12 weeks. Treatment-related adverse events occurred with comparable frequency (93.8% in the BONEMET cohort versus 83.3% in the reference cohort). 7/16 patients in the BONEMET cohort and 8/18 patients in the reference cohort achieved disease control. CONCLUSION Denosumab in combination with dual ICI modulates cytokine expression and T-cell composition in peripheral blood. The upregulation of CXCL-13, a key factor for initiating tertiary lymphoid structures, strengthens the hypothesis that denosumab indeed boost immunological effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katrin Schaper-Gerhardt
- Department of Dermatology, Johannes Wesling Medical Center, Ruhr University Bochum, Campus Minden, Minden, Germany; Department of Dermatology and Allergy, Medical School Hannover, Hannover, Germany.
| | - Ralf Gutzmer
- Department of Dermatology, Johannes Wesling Medical Center, Ruhr University Bochum, Campus Minden, Minden, Germany; Department of Dermatology and Allergy, Medical School Hannover, Hannover, Germany
| | - Yenny Angela
- Department of Dermatology, Johannes Wesling Medical Center, Ruhr University Bochum, Campus Minden, Minden, Germany; Department of Dermatology and Allergy, Medical School Hannover, Hannover, Germany
| | - Lisa Zimmer
- Department of Dermatology, University Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany; Westdeutsches Tumorzentrum, Essen, Germany, & University Alliance Ruhr, Research Center One Health, University Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany; German Cancer Consortium, Essen & National Center for Tumor Diseases, Campus Essen (NCT-West), Essen, Germany
| | - Elisabeth Livingstone
- Department of Dermatology, University Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany; Westdeutsches Tumorzentrum, Essen, Germany, & University Alliance Ruhr, Research Center One Health, University Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany; German Cancer Consortium, Essen & National Center for Tumor Diseases, Campus Essen (NCT-West), Essen, Germany
| | - Dirk Schadendorf
- Department of Dermatology, University Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany; Westdeutsches Tumorzentrum, Essen, Germany, & University Alliance Ruhr, Research Center One Health, University Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany; German Cancer Consortium, Essen & National Center for Tumor Diseases, Campus Essen (NCT-West), Essen, Germany
| | - Jessica C Hassel
- Department of Dermatology and National Center for Tumor Diseases, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Carsten Weishaupt
- Department of Dermatology, University Hospital of Muenster, Muenster, Germany
| | | | - Linda Kubat
- Westdeutsches Tumorzentrum, Essen, Germany, & University Alliance Ruhr, Research Center One Health, University Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany; Translational Skin Cancer Research (TSCR), University Medicine Essen, Germany
| | - Ivelina Spassova
- Westdeutsches Tumorzentrum, Essen, Germany, & University Alliance Ruhr, Research Center One Health, University Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany; Translational Skin Cancer Research (TSCR), University Medicine Essen, Germany
| | - Jürgen C Becker
- Department of Dermatology, University Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany; Westdeutsches Tumorzentrum, Essen, Germany, & University Alliance Ruhr, Research Center One Health, University Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany; Translational Skin Cancer Research (TSCR), University Medicine Essen, Germany
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9
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Cheng B, Li C, Li J, Gong L, Liang P, Chen Y, Zhan S, Xiong S, Zhong R, Liang H, Feng Y, Wang R, Wang H, Zheng H, Liu J, Zhou C, Shao W, Qiu Y, Sun J, Xie Z, Liang Z, Yang C, Cai X, Su C, Wang W, He J, Liang W. The activity and immune dynamics of PD-1 inhibition on high-risk pulmonary ground glass opacity lesions: insights from a single-arm, phase II trial. Signal Transduct Target Ther 2024; 9:93. [PMID: 38637495 PMCID: PMC11026465 DOI: 10.1038/s41392-024-01799-z] [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: 11/24/2023] [Revised: 02/26/2024] [Accepted: 03/10/2024] [Indexed: 04/20/2024] Open
Abstract
Immune checkpoint inhibitors targeting the programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) protein significantly improve survival in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), but its impact on early-stage ground-glass opacity (GGO) lesions remains unclear. This is a single-arm, phase II trial (NCT04026841) using Simon's optimal two-stage design, of which 4 doses of sintilimab (200 mg per 3 weeks) were administrated in 36 enrolled multiple primary lung cancer (MPLC) patients with persistent high-risk (Lung-RADS category 4 or had progressed within 6 months) GGOs. The primary endpoint was objective response rate (ORR). T/B/NK-cell subpopulations, TCR-seq, cytokines, exosomal RNA, and multiplexed immunohistochemistry (mIHC) were monitored and compared between responders and non-responders. Finally, two intent-to-treat (ITT) lesions (pure-GGO or GGO-predominant) showed responses (ORR: 5.6%, 2/36), and no patients had progressive disease (PD). No grade 3-5 TRAEs occurred. The total response rate considering two ITT lesions and three non-intent-to-treat (NITT) lesions (pure-solid or solid-predominant) was 13.9% (5/36). The proportion of CD8+ T cells, the ratio of CD8+/CD4+, and the TCR clonality value were significantly higher in the peripheral blood of responders before treatment and decreased over time. Correspondingly, the mIHC analysis showed more CD8+ T cells infiltrated in responders. Besides, responders' cytokine concentrations of EGF and CTLA-4 increased during treatment. The exosomal expression of fatty acid metabolism and oxidative phosphorylation gene signatures were down-regulated among responders. Collectively, PD-1 inhibitor showed certain activity on high-risk pulmonary GGO lesions without safety concerns. Such effects were associated with specific T-cell re-distribution, EGF/CTLA-4 cytokine compensation, and regulation of metabolism pathways.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bo Cheng
- Department of Thoracic Surgery and Oncology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou, China
| | - Caichen Li
- Department of Thoracic Surgery and Oncology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jianfu Li
- Department of Thoracic Surgery and Oncology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou, China
| | - Longlong Gong
- Medical Department, Genecast Biotechnology Co., Ltd, Wuxi, China
| | - Peng Liang
- Department of Thoracic Surgery and Oncology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou, China
| | - Ying Chen
- Department of Thoracic Surgery and Oncology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou, China
| | - Shuting Zhan
- Department of Thoracic Surgery and Oncology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou, China
| | - Shan Xiong
- Department of Thoracic Surgery and Oncology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou, China
| | - Ran Zhong
- Department of Thoracic Surgery and Oncology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou, China
| | - Hengrui Liang
- Department of Thoracic Surgery and Oncology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yi Feng
- Department of Thoracic Surgery and Oncology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou, China
| | - Runchen Wang
- Department of Thoracic Surgery and Oncology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou, China
| | - Haixuan Wang
- Department of Thoracic Surgery and Oncology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou, China
| | - Hongbo Zheng
- Medical Department, Genecast Biotechnology Co., Ltd, Wuxi, China
| | - Jun Liu
- Department of Thoracic Surgery and Oncology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou, China
| | - Chengzhi Zhou
- Department of Thoracic Surgery and Oncology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou, China
| | - Wenlong Shao
- Department of Thoracic Surgery and Oncology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yuan Qiu
- Department of Thoracic Surgery and Oncology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jiancong Sun
- Department of Radiation Oncology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Zhanhong Xie
- Department of Respiratory Medicine, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou, China
| | - Zhu Liang
- Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Medical University, Zhanjiang, China
| | - Chenglin Yang
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital & Shenzhen Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Shenzhen, China
| | - Xiuyu Cai
- Department of VIP Inpatient, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Chunxia Su
- Department of Medical Oncology, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
| | - Wei Wang
- Department of Thoracic Surgery and Oncology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jianxing He
- Department of Thoracic Surgery and Oncology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou, China.
| | - Wenhua Liang
- Department of Thoracic Surgery and Oncology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou, China.
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10
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Cappelletto E, Fasiolo LT, Salizzato V, Piccin L, Fabozzi A, Contato A, Bianco PD, Pasello G, Chiarion-Sileni V, Gion M, Fabricio ASC. Cytokine and soluble programmed death-ligand 1 levels in serum and plasma of cancer patients treated with immunotherapy: Preanalytical and analytical considerations. Int J Biol Markers 2024; 39:9-22. [PMID: 38407953 DOI: 10.1177/03936155231226234] [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] [Indexed: 02/27/2024]
Abstract
AIM To evaluate cytokine and soluble programmed death ligand-1 (sPD-L1) levels in the serum and plasma of cancer patients treated with immunotherapy, and to test different assays. METHODS Three Luminex xMAP assays and two ELLA microfluidic cartridges were used to screen 28 immune-related biomarkers in 38 paired serum and citrate-theophylline-adenosine-dipyridamole (CTAD) plasma samples collected from 10 advanced melanoma or non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients at different time points during immunotherapy. RESULTS Twenty-three of 28 biomarkers were detected both in serum and plasma by at least one of the assays, including IL-1β, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12p70, GM-CSF, IFN-γ, TNF-α, VEGF, IP-10, MCP-1, eotaxin, fractalkine, G-CSF, IFN-α, IL-1RA, IL-13, IL-17A, MIP-1β and sPD-L1. Conversely, FGF-2 and IL-1α were not detected in both matrices; GRO-α factor and EGF were detected only in serum and MIP-1α only in plasma. sPD-L1, MCP-1, IFN-γ, IL-8, MIP-1β and VEGF were, respectively, 1.15-, 1.44-, 1.83-, 2.43-, 2.82-, 6.72-fold higher in serum, whereas IL-10, IL-4, IL-2 and IL-5 were 1.05-, 1.19-, 1.92- and 2.17-fold higher, respectively, in plasma. IP-10 levels were higher in plasma but, as well as for VEGF, the bias serum versus plasma varied depending on the assay used (IP-10: -5.7% to -145%; VEGF: 115% to 165%). No significant differences were found for the remaining nine analyzed cytokines. CONCLUSION The cytokine and sPD-L1 levels may differ between serum and plasma samples collected from cancer patients treated with immunotherapy, and the results obtained can be influenced by the different characteristics of the tested assays. The standardization of pre-analytical and analytical procedures is therefore needed for the future implementation of these circulating biomarkers in clinical practice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elia Cappelletto
- Regional Center for Biomarkers, Department of Clinical Pathology, AULSS3 Serenissima, Venice, Italy
| | | | | | - Luisa Piccin
- Medical Oncology 2, Veneto Institute of Oncology IOV-IRCCS, Padua, Italy
| | - Alessio Fabozzi
- Medical Oncology 3, Veneto Institute of Oncology IOV-IRCCS, Padua, Italy
| | - Anna Contato
- Regional Center for Biomarkers, Department of Clinical Pathology, AULSS3 Serenissima, Venice, Italy
| | - Paola Del Bianco
- Clinical Research Unit, Veneto Institute of Oncology IOV-IRCCS, Padua, Italy
| | - Giulia Pasello
- Medical Oncology 2, Veneto Institute of Oncology IOV-IRCCS, Padua, Italy
- Department of Surgery, Oncology and Gastroenterology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | | | - Massimo Gion
- Regional Center for Biomarkers, Department of Clinical Pathology, AULSS3 Serenissima, Venice, Italy
| | - Aline S C Fabricio
- Medical Oncology 2, Veneto Institute of Oncology IOV-IRCCS, Padua, Italy
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11
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Krizova L, Benesova I, Zemanova P, Spacek J, Strizova Z, Humlova Z, Mikulova V, Petruzelka L, Vocka M. Immunophenotyping of peripheral blood in NSCLC patients discriminates responders to immune checkpoint inhibitors. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol 2024; 150:99. [PMID: 38383923 PMCID: PMC10881622 DOI: 10.1007/s00432-024-05628-2] [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: 11/30/2023] [Accepted: 01/19/2024] [Indexed: 02/23/2024]
Abstract
PURPOSE Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) dramatically changed the prognosis of patients with NSCLC. Unfortunately, a reliable predictive biomarker is still missing. Commonly used biomarkers, such as PD-L1, MSI, or TMB, are not quite accurate in predicting ICI efficacy. METHODS In this prospective observational cohort study, we investigated the predictive role of erythrocytes, thrombocytes, innate and adaptive immune cells, complement proteins (C3, C4), and cytokines from peripheral blood of 224 patients with stage III/IV NSCLC treated with ICI alone (pembrolizumab, nivolumab, and atezolizumab) or in combination (nivolumab + ipilimumab) with chemotherapy. These values were analyzed for associations with the response to the treatment and survival endpoints. RESULTS Higher baseline Tregs, MPV, hemoglobin, and lower monocyte levels were associated with favorable PFS and OS. Moreover, increased baseline basophils and lower levels of C3 predicted significantly improved PFS. The levels of the baseline immature granulocytes, C3, and monocytes were significantly associated with the occurrence of partial regression at the first restaging. Multiple studied parameters (n = 9) were related to PFS benefit at the time of first restaging as compared to baseline values. In addition, PFS nonbenefit group showed a decrease in lymphocyte count after three months of therapy. The OS benefit was associated with higher levels of lymphocytes, erythrocytes, hemoglobin, MCV, and MPV, and a lower value of NLR after three months of treatment. CONCLUSION Our work suggests that parameters from peripheral venous blood may be potential biomarkers in NSCLC patients on ICI. The baseline values of Tregs, C3, monocytes, and MPV are especially recommended for further investigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ludmila Krizova
- Department of Oncology, General University Hospital in Prague and First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, U Nemocnice 499/2, 128 00, Prague 2, Czech Republic
| | - Iva Benesova
- Department of Immunology, Second Faculty of Medicine, Charles University in Prague and University Hospital in Motol, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Petra Zemanova
- Department of Oncology, General University Hospital in Prague and First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, U Nemocnice 499/2, 128 00, Prague 2, Czech Republic
| | - Jan Spacek
- Department of Oncology, General University Hospital in Prague and First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, U Nemocnice 499/2, 128 00, Prague 2, Czech Republic
| | - Zuzana Strizova
- Department of Immunology, Second Faculty of Medicine, Charles University in Prague and University Hospital in Motol, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Zuzana Humlova
- Institute of Immunology and Microbiology, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Veronika Mikulova
- Institute of Medical Biochemistry and Laboratory Diagnostics, Laboratory of Clinical Immunology and Allergology, General University Hospital in Prague and First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Lubos Petruzelka
- Department of Oncology, General University Hospital in Prague and First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, U Nemocnice 499/2, 128 00, Prague 2, Czech Republic
| | - Michal Vocka
- Department of Oncology, General University Hospital in Prague and First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, U Nemocnice 499/2, 128 00, Prague 2, Czech Republic.
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12
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Wu YX, Tian BY, Ou XY, Wu M, Huang Q, Han RK, He X, Chen SL. A novel model for predicting prognosis and response to immunotherapy in nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients. Cancer Immunol Immunother 2024; 73:14. [PMID: 38236288 PMCID: PMC10796600 DOI: 10.1007/s00262-023-03626-w] [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: 10/20/2023] [Accepted: 12/30/2023] [Indexed: 01/19/2024]
Abstract
Blood-based biomarkers of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) response in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) are lacking, so it is necessary to identify biomarkers to select NPC patients who will benefit most or least from ICIs. The absolute values of lymphocyte subpopulations, biochemical indexes, and blood routine tests were determined before ICIs-based treatments in the training cohort (n = 130). Then, the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (Lasso) Cox regression analysis was developed to construct a prediction model. The performances of the prediction model were compared to TNM stage, treatment, and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA using the concordance index (C-index). Progression-free survival (PFS) was estimated by Kaplan-Meier (K-M) survival curve. Other 63 patients were used for validation cohort. The novel model composed of histologic subtypes, CD19+ B cells, natural killer (NK) cells, regulatory T cells, red blood cells (RBC), AST/ALT ratio (SLR), apolipoprotein B (Apo B), and lactic dehydrogenase (LDH). The C-index of this model was 0.784 in the training cohort and 0.735 in the validation cohort. K-M survival curve showed patients with high-risk scores had shorter PFS compared to the low-risk groups. For predicting immune therapy responses, the receiver operating characteristic (ROC), decision curve analysis (DCA), net reclassifcation improvement index (NRI) and integrated discrimination improvement index (IDI) of this model showed better predictive ability compared to EBV DNA. In this study, we constructed a novel model for prognostic prediction and immunotherapeutic response prediction in NPC patients, which may provide clinical assistance in selecting those patients who are likely to gain long-lasting clinical benefits to anti-PD-1 therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ya-Xian Wu
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Diagnosis and Therapy, Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, 651 Dongfeng Road East, Guangzhou, 510006, Guangdong, People's Republic of China
| | - Bo-Yu Tian
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Diagnosis and Therapy, Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, 651 Dongfeng Road East, Guangzhou, 510006, Guangdong, People's Republic of China
| | - Xin-Yuan Ou
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Diagnosis and Therapy, Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, 651 Dongfeng Road East, Guangzhou, 510006, Guangdong, People's Republic of China
| | - Meng Wu
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Diagnosis and Therapy, Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, 651 Dongfeng Road East, Guangzhou, 510006, Guangdong, People's Republic of China
| | - Qi Huang
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Diagnosis and Therapy, Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, 651 Dongfeng Road East, Guangzhou, 510006, Guangdong, People's Republic of China
| | - Run-Kun Han
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Diagnosis and Therapy, Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, 651 Dongfeng Road East, Guangzhou, 510006, Guangdong, People's Republic of China
| | - Xia He
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Diagnosis and Therapy, Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, 651 Dongfeng Road East, Guangzhou, 510006, Guangdong, People's Republic of China.
| | - Shu-Lin Chen
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Diagnosis and Therapy, Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, 651 Dongfeng Road East, Guangzhou, 510006, Guangdong, People's Republic of China.
- Research Center for Translational Medicine, First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510006, People's Republic of China.
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13
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Karaoğlan BB, Savaş B, Utkan G, Ürün Y. Exploring the connection between microsatellite instability and inflammatory indicators in cancers. Future Oncol 2024; 20:95-105. [PMID: 38318682 DOI: 10.2217/fon-2023-0695] [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] [Indexed: 02/07/2024] Open
Abstract
Aim: This study aimed to investigate the association between microsatellite instability (MSI) status and inflammatory indicators in patients with cancer. Patients & methods: A total of 204 patients with various cancer diagnoses, including 102 with MSI-high (MSI-H) and 102 with microsatellite stable tumors, were enrolled. Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR), C-reactive protein (CRP)-to-albumin ratio and systemic immune-inflammation index were evaluated. Results: In microsatellite stable patients, NLR, LMR, PLR and systemic immune-inflammation index were significantly linked to worse survival in univariate analysis, and having a LMR ≤2.6 negatively affected survival in multivariate analysis, although these indicators did not affect the survival of MSI-H patients. Conclusion: The impact of chronic inflammation on survival varies with MSI status. Further research is needed for targeted therapies in different tumors.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Berna Savaş
- Ankara University School of Medicine, Department of Pathology, 06230
| | - Güngör Utkan
- Ankara University School of Medicine, Department of Medical Oncology, 06620
| | - Yüksel Ürün
- Ankara University School of Medicine, Department of Medical Oncology, 06620
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14
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Gicobi JK, Mao Z, DeFranco G, Hirdler JB, Li Y, Vianzon VV, Dellacecca ER, Hsu MA, Barham W, Yan Y, Mansfield AS, Lin Y, Wu X, Hitosugi T, Owen D, Grams MP, Orme JJ, Lucien F, Zeng H, Park SS, Dong H. Salvage therapy expands highly cytotoxic and metabolically fit resilient CD8 + T cells via ME1 up-regulation. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2023; 9:eadi2414. [PMID: 37967193 PMCID: PMC10651128 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adi2414] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2023] [Accepted: 10/16/2023] [Indexed: 11/17/2023]
Abstract
Patients with advanced cancers who either do not experience initial response to or progress while on immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) receive salvage radiotherapy to reduce tumor burden and tumor-related symptoms. Occasionally, some patients experience substantial global tumor regression with a rebound of cytotoxic CD8+ T cells. We have termed the rebound of cytotoxic CD8+ T cells in response to salvage therapy as T cell resilience and examined the underlying mechanisms of resilience. Resilient T cells are enriched for CX3CR1+ CD8+ T cells with low mitochondrial membrane potential, accumulate less reactive oxygen species (ROS), and express more malic enzyme 1 (ME1). ME1 overexpression enhanced the cytotoxicity and expansion of effector CD8+ T cells partially via the type I interferon pathway. ME1 also increased mitochondrial respiration while maintaining the redox state balance. ME1 increased the cytotoxicity of peripheral lymphocytes from patients with advanced cancers. Thus, preserved resilient T cells in patients rebound after salvage therapy and ME1 enhances their resiliency.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joanina K. Gicobi
- Department of Immunology, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Zhiming Mao
- Department of Immunology, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Grace DeFranco
- Department of Immunology, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science, Rochester, MN, USA
| | | | - Ying Li
- Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, USA
| | - Vianca V. Vianzon
- Department of Immunology, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Emilia R. Dellacecca
- Department of Immunology, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Michelle A. Hsu
- Department of Immunology, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Whitney Barham
- Department of Immunology, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Yiyi Yan
- Division of Medical Oncology, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, USA
| | | | - Yi Lin
- Division of Medical Oncology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Xiaosheng Wu
- Division of Medical Oncology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Taro Hitosugi
- Department of Oncology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Dawn Owen
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Michael P. Grams
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Jacob J. Orme
- Division of Medical Oncology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | | | - Hu Zeng
- Department of Immunology, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science, Rochester, MN, USA
- Department of Rheumatology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Sean S. Park
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Haidong Dong
- Department of Immunology, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science, Rochester, MN, USA
- Department of Urology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
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15
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Greten TF, Villanueva A, Korangy F, Ruf B, Yarchoan M, Ma L, Ruppin E, Wang XW. Biomarkers for immunotherapy of hepatocellular carcinoma. Nat Rev Clin Oncol 2023; 20:780-798. [PMID: 37726418 DOI: 10.1038/s41571-023-00816-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/29/2023] [Indexed: 09/21/2023]
Abstract
Immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are now widely used for the treatment of patients with advanced-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Two different ICI-containing regimens, atezolizumab plus bevacizumab and tremelimumab plus durvalumab, are now approved standard-of-care first-line therapies in this setting. However, and despite substantial improvements in survival outcomes relative to sorafenib, most patients with advanced-stage HCC do not derive durable benefit from these regimens. Advances in genome sequencing including the use of single-cell RNA sequencing (both of tumour material and blood samples), as well as immune cell identification strategies and other techniques such as radiomics and analysis of the microbiota, have created considerable potential for the identification of novel predictive biomarkers enabling the accurate selection of patients who are most likely to derive benefit from ICIs. In this Review, we summarize data on the immunology of HCC and the outcomes in patients receiving ICIs for the treatment of this disease. We then provide an overview of current biomarker use and developments in the past 5 years, including gene signatures, circulating tumour cells, high-dimensional flow cytometry, single-cell RNA sequencing as well as approaches involving the microbiome, radiomics and clinical markers. Novel concepts for further biomarker development in HCC are then discussed including biomarker-driven trials, spatial transcriptomics and integrated 'big data' analysis approaches. These concepts all have the potential to better identify patients who are most likely to benefit from ICIs and to promote the development of new treatment approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tim F Greten
- Gastrointestinal Malignancies Section, Thoracic and Gastrointestinal Malignancies Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA.
- Liver Cancer Program, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA.
| | - Augusto Villanueva
- Divisions of Liver Disease and Hematology/Medical Oncology, Tisch Cancer Institute, Department of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Firouzeh Korangy
- Gastrointestinal Malignancies Section, Thoracic and Gastrointestinal Malignancies Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Benjamin Ruf
- Gastrointestinal Malignancies Section, Thoracic and Gastrointestinal Malignancies Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Mark Yarchoan
- Bloomberg-Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Lichun Ma
- Cancer Data Science Laboratory, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Eytan Ruppin
- Cancer Data Science Laboratory, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Xin W Wang
- Liver Cancer Program, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
- Liver Carcinogenesis Section, Laboratory of Human Carcinogenesis, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
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16
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Cohen M, Shamay Y, Czamanski-Cohen J, Shulman K, Keren Rosenberg S, Abu-Amna M, Turgeman I, Merkin Livshits L, Birenboim R, Dines M, Bar-Sela G. Linkage between Psychological Factors and Response to Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Therapy: A Preliminary Study. Cells 2023; 12:2471. [PMID: 37887315 PMCID: PMC10605722 DOI: 10.3390/cells12202471] [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: 09/14/2023] [Revised: 10/02/2023] [Accepted: 10/11/2023] [Indexed: 10/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Substantial evidence has accumulated showing that psychological distress affects immune regulation, the response to cancer treatment, and survival. The effect of psychological parameters on the effectiveness of immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) treatment has not yet been studied. This preliminary study aimed to (a) examine the associations between psychological factors and responses to ICI treatment and (b) assess the associations between psychological factors and blood measures of sPD-1, sCTLA-4, and cytokines that may alter the effect of ICI treatment. The participants were 62 individuals with advanced cancer, aged 18 years or older, who were candidates for ICI treatment as a new line of treatment. The participants answered questionnaires and provided blood samples and medical data prior to the start of ICI treatment and 3 months after. Perceived health status was positively associated with better responses to ICI treatment. In the subsample of participants with biomarkers, worse health-related quality of life was associated with higher IL-6 and sCTLA-4; emotional distress and sleep difficulties were associated with higher sCTLA-4; and better perceived health was associated with lower IL-6 and TNFα. sPD-1 was not associated with psychological measures. This preliminary study found for the first time that some psychological measures could be linked to responses to cancer treatment, possibly via pro-inflammatory cytokines and sCTLA-4.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miri Cohen
- School of Social Work, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel;
| | - Yosi Shamay
- Biomedical Engineering, Technion—Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 3109601, Israel;
| | - Johanna Czamanski-Cohen
- Emili Sagol Creative Arts Therapies Research Center, School of Creative Arts Therapies, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel; (J.C.-C.); (M.D.)
| | - Katerina Shulman
- Carmel Medical Center, Haifa 3436212, Israel; (K.S.); (L.M.L.)
- Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion—Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 3109601, Israel
- Lin Medical Center, Haifa 6688304, Israel;
| | | | - Mahmoud Abu-Amna
- Cancer Center, Emek Medical Center, Afula 1834111, Israel; (M.A.-A.); (I.T.)
| | - Ilit Turgeman
- Cancer Center, Emek Medical Center, Afula 1834111, Israel; (M.A.-A.); (I.T.)
| | - Ludmila Merkin Livshits
- Carmel Medical Center, Haifa 3436212, Israel; (K.S.); (L.M.L.)
- Lin Medical Center, Haifa 6688304, Israel;
| | | | - Monica Dines
- Emili Sagol Creative Arts Therapies Research Center, School of Creative Arts Therapies, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel; (J.C.-C.); (M.D.)
| | - Gil Bar-Sela
- Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion—Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 3109601, Israel
- Cancer Center, Emek Medical Center, Afula 1834111, Israel; (M.A.-A.); (I.T.)
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17
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Monjazeb AM, Daly ME, Luxardi G, Maverakis E, Merleev AA, Marusina AI, Borowsky A, Mirhadi A, Shiao SL, Beckett L, Chen S, Eastham D, Li T, Vick LV, McGee HM, Lara F, Garcia L, Morris LA, Canter RJ, Riess JW, Schalper KA, Murphy WJ, Kelly K. Atezolizumab plus stereotactic ablative radiotherapy for medically inoperable patients with early-stage non-small cell lung cancer: a multi-institutional phase I trial. Nat Commun 2023; 14:5332. [PMID: 37658083 PMCID: PMC10474145 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-40813-w] [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: 05/02/2023] [Accepted: 08/11/2023] [Indexed: 09/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) is a standard-of-care for medically-inoperable-early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). One third of patients progress and chemotherapy is rarely used in this population. We questioned if addition of the immune-checkpoint-inhibitor (ICI) atezolizumab to standard-of-care SABR can improve outcomes. We initiated a multi-institutional single-arm phase I study (NCT02599454) enrolling twenty patients with the primary endpoint of maximum tolerated dose (MTD); secondary endpoints of safety and efficacy; and exploratory mechanistic correlatives. Treatment is well tolerated and full dose atezolizumab (1200 mg) is the MTD. Efficacy signals include early responses (after 2 cycles of ICI, before initiation of SABR) in 17% of patients. Biomarkers of functional adaptive immunity, including T cell activation in the tumor and response to ex-vivo stimulation by circulating T cells, are highly predictive of benefit. These results require validation and are being tested in a phase III randomized trial.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Amin Mirhadi
- Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, 90048, USA
| | | | | | - Shuai Chen
- UC Davis Health, Sacramento, CA, 95817, USA
| | - David Eastham
- David Grant USAF Medical Center, Travis AFB, Fairfield, CA, 93405, USA
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Karen Kelly
- UC Davis Health, Sacramento, CA, 95817, USA
- International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer, Denver, CO, 80202, USA
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18
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Mahalingam D, Chen S, Xie P, Loghmani H, Heineman T, Kalyan A, Kircher S, Helenowski IB, Mi X, Maurer V, Coffey M, Mulcahy M, Benson A, Zhang B. Combination of pembrolizumab and pelareorep promotes anti-tumour immunity in advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Br J Cancer 2023; 129:782-790. [PMID: 37443348 PMCID: PMC10449917 DOI: 10.1038/s41416-023-02344-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2023] [Revised: 06/07/2023] [Accepted: 06/21/2023] [Indexed: 07/15/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND We previously reported activity of pelareorep, pembrolizumab and chemotherapy. Patients developed new T-cell clones and increased peripheral T-cell clonality, leading to an inflamed tumour. To evaluate a chemotherapy-free regimen, this study assesses if pelareorep and pembrolizumab has efficacy by inducing anti-tumour immunological changes (NCT03723915). METHODS PDAC patients who progressed after first-line therapy, received iv pelareorep induction with pembrolizumab every 21-days. Primary objective is overall response rate. Secondary objectives included evaluation of immunological changes within tumour and blood. RESULTS Clinical benefit rate (CBR) was 42% amongst 12 patients. One patient achieved partial response (PR) and four stable disease (SD). Seven progressed, deemed non-responders (NR). VDAC1 expression in peripheral CD8+ T cells was higher at baseline in CBR than NR but decreased in CBR upon treatment. On-treatment peripheral CD4+ Treg levels decreased in CBR but not in NR. Analysis of tumour demonstrated PD-L1+ cells touching CD8+ T cells, and NK cells were more abundant post-treatment vs. baseline. A higher intensity of PD-L1 in tumour infiltrates at baseline, particularly in CBR vs. NR. Finally, higher levels of soluble (s)IDO, sLag3, sPD-1 observed at baseline among NR vs. CBR. CONCLUSION Pelareorep and pembrolizumab showed modest efficacy in unselected patients, although potential immune and metabolic biomarkers were identified to warrant further evaluation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Devalingam Mahalingam
- Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Division of Hematology & Oncology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA.
| | - Siqi Chen
- Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Division of Hematology & Oncology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Ping Xie
- Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Division of Hematology & Oncology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA
| | | | | | - Aparna Kalyan
- Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Division of Hematology & Oncology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Sheetal Kircher
- Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Division of Hematology & Oncology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Irene B Helenowski
- Quantitative Data Sciences Core, Department of Preventative Medicine, Biostatistics, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Xinlei Mi
- Quantitative Data Sciences Core, Department of Preventative Medicine, Biostatistics, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Victoria Maurer
- Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Division of Hematology & Oncology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA
| | | | - Mary Mulcahy
- Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Division of Hematology & Oncology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Al- Benson
- Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Division of Hematology & Oncology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Bin Zhang
- Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Division of Hematology & Oncology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA.
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Gao J, Zhang C, Wei Z, Ye X. Immunotherapy for early-stage non-small cell lung cancer: A system review. J Cancer Res Ther 2023; 19:849-865. [PMID: 37675709 DOI: 10.4103/jcrt.jcrt_723_23] [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] [Indexed: 09/08/2023]
Abstract
With the addition of immunotherapy, lung cancer, one of the most common cancers with high mortality rates, has broadened the treatment landscape. Immune checkpoint inhibitors have demonstrated significant efficacy in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and are now used as the first-line therapy for metastatic disease, consolidation therapy after radiotherapy for unresectable locally advanced disease, and adjuvant therapy after surgical resection and chemotherapy for resectable disease. The use of adjuvant and neoadjuvant immunotherapy in patients with early-stage NSCLC, however, is still debatable. We will address several aspects, namely the initial efficacy of monotherapy, the efficacy of combination chemotherapy, immunotherapy-related biomarkers, adverse effects, ongoing randomized controlled trials, and current issues and future directions for immunotherapy in early-stage NSCLC will be discussed here.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jingyi Gao
- Shandong First Medical University and Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan, Shandong; Department of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University and Shandong Provincial Qianfoshan Hospital, Shandong Key Laboratory of Rheumatic Disease and Translational Medicine, Shandong Lung Cancer Institute, Jinan, Shandong Province, China
| | - Chao Zhang
- Department of Oncology, Affiliated Qujing Hospital of Kunming Medical University, QuJing, Yunnan Province, China
| | - Zhigang Wei
- Department of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University and Shandong Provincial Qianfoshan Hospital, Shandong Key Laboratory of Rheumatic Disease and Translational Medicine, Shandong Lung Cancer Institute, Jinan, Shandong Province, China
| | - Xin Ye
- Department of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University and Shandong Provincial Qianfoshan Hospital, Shandong Key Laboratory of Rheumatic Disease and Translational Medicine, Shandong Lung Cancer Institute, Jinan, Shandong Province, China
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20
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Zhou J, Chu X, Zhao J, Xie M, Wu J, Yu X, Fang Y, Li Y, Li X, Su C. Full spectrum flow cytometry-powered comprehensive analysis of PBMC as biomarkers for immunotherapy in NSCLC with EGFR-TKI resistance. Biol Proced Online 2023; 25:21. [PMID: 37488517 PMCID: PMC10364374 DOI: 10.1186/s12575-023-00215-0] [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: 06/15/2023] [Accepted: 07/14/2023] [Indexed: 07/26/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Clinical studies suggest that immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) monotherapy has limited benefits in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients after epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR-TKI) failure. However, data about efficacy of ICI plus chemotherapy remain controversial, probably attributed to the heterogeneity among such population, and robust efficacy biomarkers are urgent to explore. METHODS A total of 60 eligible patients who received ICI plus chemotherapy after EGFR-TKI treatment failure were enrolled, 24 of whom peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) samples were collected at baseline and after 2 cycles of treatment. We have designed a 23-color-antibody panel to detect PBMC by full spectrum flow cytometry. RESULTS For EGFR-TKI resistant NSCLC patients: 1) ICI plus chemotherapy achieved an objective response rate (ORR) of 21.7% and a median progression-free survival (PFS) of 6.4 months. 2) clinical characteristics associated with worse efficacy included liver metastasis and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) > 200. 3) the proportion of immune cell subset associated with better efficacy was higher baseline effective CD4+T cells (E4). 4) the baseline expression of immune checkpoint proteins (ICPs) on cell subsets associated with better efficacy included: higher expression of CD25 on dendritic cells (DC) and central memory CD8+T cells (CM8), and higher expression of Lymphocyte activation gene 3 (LAG-3) on effective memory CD8+T cells (EM8). 5) the expression of ICPs after 2 cycles of treatment associated with better efficacy included: higher expression of CD25 on CD8+T/EM8 /natural killer (NK) cells. 6) the dynamic changes of ICPs expression associated with worse efficacy included: significantly decrease of T cell immunoglobulin and ITIM domain (TIGIT) expression on regular T cells (Tregs) and decrease of V-domain immunoglobulin suppressor of T cell activation (VISTA) expression on Th1. 7) a prediction model for the efficacy of ICI plus chemotherapy was successfully constructed with a sensitivity of 62.5%, specificity of 100%, and area under curve (AUC) = 0.817. CONCLUSIONS Some EGFR-TKI-resistant NSCLC patients could indeed benefit from ICI plus chemotherapy, but most patients are primary resistant to immunotherapy. Comprehensive analysis of peripheral immune cells using full spectrum flow cytometry showed that compared to the proportion of cell subsets, the expression type and level of ICPs on immune cells, especially CD25, were significantly correlated with the efficacy of immunotherapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juan Zhou
- Department of Oncology, Department of Clinical Research Center, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital &, Thoracic Cancer Institute, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200043, China
| | - Xiangling Chu
- Department of Oncology, Department of Clinical Research Center, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital &, Thoracic Cancer Institute, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200043, China
| | - Jing Zhao
- Department of Oncology, Department of Clinical Research Center, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital &, Thoracic Cancer Institute, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200043, China
| | - Mengqing Xie
- Department of Oncology, Department of Clinical Research Center, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital &, Thoracic Cancer Institute, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200043, China
| | - Jing Wu
- Department of Oncology, Department of Clinical Research Center, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital &, Thoracic Cancer Institute, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200043, China
| | - Xin Yu
- Department of Oncology, Department of Clinical Research Center, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital &, Thoracic Cancer Institute, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200043, China
| | - Yujia Fang
- Department of Oncology, Department of Clinical Research Center, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital &, Thoracic Cancer Institute, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200043, China
| | - Yazhou Li
- Righton Biotechnology Co., Ltd, Shanghai, China
| | - Xiyan Li
- Righton Biotechnology Co., Ltd, Shanghai, China
| | - Chunxia Su
- Department of Oncology, Department of Clinical Research Center, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital &, Thoracic Cancer Institute, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200043, China.
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21
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Nelli F, Signorelli C, Fabbri A, Giannarelli D, Virtuoso A, Giron Berrios JR, Marrucci E, Fiore C, Schirripa M, Chilelli MG, Primi F, Panichi V, Topini G, Silvestri MA, Ruggeri EM. Changes in Peripheral Immune Cells after the Third Dose of SARS-CoV-2 mRNA-BNT162b2 Vaccine and Disease Outcomes in Cancer Patients Receiving Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors: A Prospective Analysis of the Vax-on-Third-Profile Study. Cancers (Basel) 2023; 15:3625. [PMID: 37509286 PMCID: PMC10377319 DOI: 10.3390/cancers15143625] [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: 06/11/2023] [Revised: 07/03/2023] [Accepted: 07/13/2023] [Indexed: 07/30/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Anti-SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines can deeply affect cell-mediated immune responses in immunocompromised recipients, including cancer patients receiving active treatments. The clinical implications of changes in peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets following the third dose of mRNA-BNT162b2 vaccination (tozinameran) in patients on immune checkpoint blockade are not fully understood. We conducted a prospective analysis of the Vax-On-Third-Profile study to evaluate the impact of circulating lymphocyte dynamics on disease outcomes in this subgroup of patients. METHODS Recipients of booster dosing who had received before vaccination at least one course of an anti-PD-1/PD-L1 treatment for an advanced solid tumor were eligible. Immunophenotyping of peripheral blood was performed before the third dose of tozinameran (timepoint-1) and four weeks later (timepoint-2) to quantify the absolute counts of lymphocyte subpopulations, including CD3+CD4+ T cells, CD3+CD8+ T cells, B cells, and NK cells. Logistic regression was used to analyze the relationship between lymphocyte subsets and durable clinical benefit (DCB). The log-rank test and Cox regression model were applied to evaluate the relationship between lymphocyte subpopulations and both vaccine-related time-to-treatment failure (V-TTF) and overall survival (OS). RESULTS We included a total of 56 patients with metastatic disease who were given a third dose of tozinameran between 23 September and 7 October 2021 (median age: 66 years; male: 71%). Most recipients had a diagnosis of lung cancer and were being treated with pembrolizumab or nivolumab. Compared to baseline, the third immunization resulted in an incremental change in the median counts of all lymphocyte subpopulations, which was statistically significant only for NK cells (p < 0.001). A significant correlation was found between NK cell counts and DCB at timepoint-2 (p < 0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis of DCB confirmed the predictive significance of high-level NK cell counts (p = 0.020). In multivariate Cox regression analysis, high-level NK cell counts independently predicted longer V-TTF [HR 0.34 (95% CI 0.14-0.80), p = 0.014] and OS [HR 0.36 (95% CI 0.15-0.89), p = 0.027]. CONCLUSIONS Our data suggest expansion of NK cell counts as the most noteworthy change in circulating lymphocytes after the third dose of tozinameran in cancer patients receiving PD-1/PD-L1-targeted agents. This change correlated with enhanced therapeutic efficacy, improving the rate of disease control, and prolonging survival outcomes. Similar findings have not been previously reported, implying that they have proof-of-concept value and warrant further confirmation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabrizio Nelli
- Medical Oncology Unit, Department of Oncology and Hematology, Central Hospital of Belcolle, 01100 Viterbo, Italy
- Thoracic Oncology Unit, Department of Oncology and Hematology, Central Hospital of Belcolle, 01100 Viterbo, Italy
| | - Carlo Signorelli
- Medical Oncology Unit, Department of Oncology and Hematology, Central Hospital of Belcolle, 01100 Viterbo, Italy
| | - Agnese Fabbri
- Medical Oncology Unit, Department of Oncology and Hematology, Central Hospital of Belcolle, 01100 Viterbo, Italy
| | - Diana Giannarelli
- Biostatistics Unit, Scientific Directorate, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli, IRCCS, 00168 Rome, Italy
| | - Antonella Virtuoso
- Medical Oncology Unit, Department of Oncology and Hematology, Central Hospital of Belcolle, 01100 Viterbo, Italy
- Thoracic Oncology Unit, Department of Oncology and Hematology, Central Hospital of Belcolle, 01100 Viterbo, Italy
| | - Julio Rodrigo Giron Berrios
- Medical Oncology Unit, Department of Oncology and Hematology, Central Hospital of Belcolle, 01100 Viterbo, Italy
| | - Eleonora Marrucci
- Medical Oncology Unit, Department of Oncology and Hematology, Central Hospital of Belcolle, 01100 Viterbo, Italy
| | - Cristina Fiore
- Medical Oncology Unit, Department of Oncology and Hematology, Central Hospital of Belcolle, 01100 Viterbo, Italy
| | - Marta Schirripa
- Medical Oncology Unit, Department of Oncology and Hematology, Central Hospital of Belcolle, 01100 Viterbo, Italy
| | - Mario Giovanni Chilelli
- Medical Oncology Unit, Department of Oncology and Hematology, Central Hospital of Belcolle, 01100 Viterbo, Italy
| | - Francesca Primi
- Medical Oncology Unit, Department of Oncology and Hematology, Central Hospital of Belcolle, 01100 Viterbo, Italy
| | - Valentina Panichi
- Cytofluorimetry Unit, Department of Oncology and Hematology, Central Hospital of Belcolle, 01100 Viterbo, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Topini
- Cytofluorimetry Unit, Department of Oncology and Hematology, Central Hospital of Belcolle, 01100 Viterbo, Italy
| | - Maria Assunta Silvestri
- Microbiology and Virology Unit, Department of Oncology and Hematology, Central Hospital of Belcolle, 01100 Viterbo, Italy
| | - Enzo Maria Ruggeri
- Medical Oncology Unit, Department of Oncology and Hematology, Central Hospital of Belcolle, 01100 Viterbo, Italy
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Liu D, Hu L, Shao H. Therapeutic drug monitoring of immune checkpoint inhibitors: based on their pharmacokinetic properties and biomarkers. Cancer Chemother Pharmacol 2023:10.1007/s00280-023-04541-8. [PMID: 37410155 DOI: 10.1007/s00280-023-04541-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2022] [Accepted: 05/03/2023] [Indexed: 07/07/2023]
Abstract
As a new means of oncology treatment, immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) can improve survival rates in patients with resistant or refractory tumors. However, there are obvious inter-individual differences in the unsatisfactory response rate, drug resistance rate and the occurrence of immune-related adverse events (irAE). These questions have sparked interest in researchers looking for a way to screen sensitive populations and predict efficacy and safety. Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) is a way to ensure the safety and effectiveness of medication by measuring the concentration of drugs in body fluids and adjusting the medication regimen. It has the potential to be an adjunctive means of predicting the safety and efficacy of ICIs treatment. In this review, the author outlined the pharmacokinetic (PK) characteristics of ICIs in patients. The feasibility and limitations of TDM of ICIs were discussed by summarizing the relationships between the pharmacokinetic parameters and the efficacy, toxicity and biomarkers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dongxue Liu
- School of Basic Medicine and Clinical Pharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, China
| | - Linlin Hu
- Department of Pharmacy, Zhongda Hospital, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
- Office of Medication Clinical Institution, Zhongda Hospital, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
| | - Hua Shao
- Office of Medication Clinical Institution, Zhongda Hospital, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, China.
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23
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Tsunedomi R, Shindo Y, Nakajima M, Yoshimura K, Nagano H. The tumor immune microenvironment in pancreatic cancer and its potential in the identification of immunotherapy biomarkers. Expert Rev Mol Diagn 2023; 23:1121-1134. [PMID: 37947389 DOI: 10.1080/14737159.2023.2281482] [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: 02/21/2023] [Accepted: 11/06/2023] [Indexed: 11/12/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Pancreatic cancer (PC) has an extremely poor prognosis, even with surgical resection and triplet chemotherapy treatment. Cancer immunotherapy has been recently approved for tumor-agnostic treatment with genome analysis, including in PC. However, it has limited efficacy. AREAS COVERED In addition to the low tumor mutation burden, one of the difficulties of immunotherapy in PC is the presence of abundant stromal cells in its microenvironment. Among stromal cells, cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) play a major role in immunotherapy resistance, and CAF-targeted therapies are currently under development, including those in combination with immunotherapies. Meanwhile, microbiomes and tumor-derived exosomes (TDEs) have been shown to alter the behavior of distant receptor cells in PC. This review discusses the role of CAFs, microbiomes, and TDEs in PC tumor immunity. EXPERT OPINION Elucidating the mechanisms by which CAFs, microbiomes, and TDEs are involved in the tumorigenesis of PC will be helpful for developing novel immunotherapeutic strategies and identifying companion biomarkers for immunotherapy. Spatial single-cell analysis of the tumor microenvironment will be useful for identifying biomarkers of PC immunity. Furthermore, given the complexity of immune mechanisms, artificial intelligence models will be beneficial for predicting the efficacy of immunotherapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryouichi Tsunedomi
- Department of Gastroenterological, Breast and Endocrine Surgery, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Ube, Yamaguchi, Japan
| | - Yoshitaro Shindo
- Department of Gastroenterological, Breast and Endocrine Surgery, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Ube, Yamaguchi, Japan
| | - Masao Nakajima
- Department of Gastroenterological, Breast and Endocrine Surgery, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Ube, Yamaguchi, Japan
| | - Kiyoshi Yoshimura
- Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, Showa University School of Medicine, Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan
- Department of Clinical Immuno-Oncology, Clinical Research Institute for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Showa University, Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Hiroaki Nagano
- Department of Gastroenterological, Breast and Endocrine Surgery, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Ube, Yamaguchi, Japan
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24
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Wang H, Arulraj T, Kimko H, Popel AS. Generating immunogenomic data-guided virtual patients using a QSP model to predict response of advanced NSCLC to PD-L1 inhibition. NPJ Precis Oncol 2023; 7:55. [PMID: 37291190 DOI: 10.1038/s41698-023-00405-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2023] [Accepted: 05/25/2023] [Indexed: 06/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Generating realistic virtual patients from a limited amount of patient data is one of the major challenges for quantitative systems pharmacology modeling in immuno-oncology. Quantitative systems pharmacology (QSP) is a mathematical modeling methodology that integrates mechanistic knowledge of biological systems to investigate dynamics in a whole system during disease progression and drug treatment. In the present analysis, we parameterized our previously published QSP model of the cancer-immunity cycle to non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and generated a virtual patient cohort to predict clinical response to PD-L1 inhibition in NSCLC. The virtual patient generation was guided by immunogenomic data from iAtlas portal and population pharmacokinetic data of durvalumab, a PD-L1 inhibitor. With virtual patients generated following the immunogenomic data distribution, our model predicted a response rate of 18.6% (95% bootstrap confidence interval: 13.3-24.2%) and identified CD8/Treg ratio as a potential predictive biomarker in addition to PD-L1 expression and tumor mutational burden. We demonstrated that omics data served as a reliable resource for virtual patient generation techniques in immuno-oncology using QSP models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hanwen Wang
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.
| | - Theinmozhi Arulraj
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
| | - Holly Kimko
- Clinical Pharmacology & Quantitative Pharmacology, AstraZeneca, Gaithersburg, MD, USA
| | - Aleksander S Popel
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
- Department of Oncology, and the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
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Lo Russo G, Prelaj A, Dolezal J, Beninato T, Agnelli L, Triulzi T, Fabbri A, Lorenzini D, Ferrara R, Brambilla M, Occhipinti M, Mazzeo L, Provenzano L, Spagnoletti A, Viscardi G, Sgambelluri F, Brich S, Miskovic V, Pedrocchi ALG, Trovo' F, Manglaviti S, Giani C, Ambrosini P, Leporati R, Franza A, McCulloch J, Torelli T, Anichini A, Mortarini R, Trinchieri G, Pruneri G, Torri V, De Braud F, Proto C, Ganzinelli M, Garassino MC. PEOPLE (NTC03447678), a phase II trial to test pembrolizumab as first-line treatment in patients with advanced NSCLC with PD-L1 <50%: a multiomics analysis. J Immunother Cancer 2023; 11:e006833. [PMID: 37286305 PMCID: PMC10254948 DOI: 10.1136/jitc-2023-006833] [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: 04/09/2023] [Indexed: 06/09/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Chemoimmunotherapy represents the standard of care for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) <50%. Although single-agent pembrolizumab has also demonstrated some activity in this setting, no reliable biomarkers yet exist for selecting patients likely to respond to single-agent immunotherapy. The main purpose of the study was to identify potential new biomarkers associated with progression-free-survival (PFS) within a multiomics analysis. METHODS PEOPLE (NTC03447678) was a prospective phase II trial evaluating first-line pembrolizumab in patients with advanced EGFR and ALK wild type treatment-naïve NSCLC with PD-L1 <50%. Circulating immune profiling was performed by determination of absolute cell counts with multiparametric flow cytometry on freshly isolated whole blood samples at baseline and at first radiological evaluation. Gene expression profiling was performed using nCounter PanCancer IO 360 Panel (NanoString) on baseline tissue. Gut bacterial taxonomic abundance was obtained by shotgun metagenomic sequencing of stool samples at baseline. Omics data were analyzed with sequential univariate Cox proportional hazards regression predicting PFS, with Benjamini-Hochberg multiple comparisons correction. Biological features significant with univariate analysis were analyzed with multivariate least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO). RESULTS From May 2018 to October 2020, 65 patients were enrolled. Median follow-up and PFS were 26.4 and 2.9 months, respectively. LASSO integration analysis, with an optimal lambda of 0.28, showed that peripheral blood natural killer cells/CD56dimCD16+ (HR 0.56, 0.41-0.76, p=0.006) abundance at baseline and non-classical CD14dimCD16+monocytes (HR 0.52, 0.36-0.75, p=0.004), eosinophils (CD15+CD16-) (HR 0.62, 0.44-0.89, p=0.03) and lymphocytes (HR 0.32, 0.19-0.56, p=0.001) after first radiologic evaluation correlated with favorable PFS as well as high baseline expression levels of CD244 (HR 0.74, 0.62-0.87, p=0.05) protein tyrosine phosphatase receptor type C (HR 0.55, 0.38-0.81, p=0.098) and killer cell lectin like receptor B1 (HR 0.76, 0.66-0.89, p=0.05). Interferon-responsive factor 9 and cartilage oligomeric matrix protein genes correlated with unfavorable PFS (HR 3.03, 1.52-6.02, p 0.08 and HR 1.22, 1.08-1.37, p=0.06, corrected). No microbiome features were selected. CONCLUSIONS This multiomics approach was able to identify immune cell subsets and expression levels of genes associated to PFS in patients with PD-L1 <50% NSCLC treated with first-line pembrolizumab. These preliminary data will be confirmed in the larger multicentric international I3LUNG trial (NCT05537922). TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER 2017-002841-31.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giuseppe Lo Russo
- Medical Oncology, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milano, Lombardia, Italy
| | - Arsela Prelaj
- Medical Oncology, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milano, Lombardia, Italy
- Dipartimento di Elettronica, Informazione e Bioingegneria, Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Lombardia, Italy
| | - James Dolezal
- Thoracic Oncology Program, Section of Hematology/Oncology, University of Chicago Department of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Teresa Beninato
- Medical Oncology, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milano, Lombardia, Italy
| | - Luca Agnelli
- Department of Advanced Diagnostics, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan, Italy
- Department of Oncology and Hemato-Oncology, University of Milan, Milano, Lombardia, Italy
| | - Tiziana Triulzi
- Molecular Targeting Unit, Department of Research, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milano, Lombardia, Italy
| | - Alessandra Fabbri
- Department of Advanced Diagnostics, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan, Italy
| | - Daniele Lorenzini
- Department of Advanced Diagnostics, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan, Italy
| | - Roberto Ferrara
- Medical Oncology, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milano, Lombardia, Italy
- Medical Oncology, Università Vita Salute San Raffaele, Milano, Lombardia, Italy
| | - Marta Brambilla
- Medical Oncology, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milano, Lombardia, Italy
| | - Mario Occhipinti
- Medical Oncology, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milano, Lombardia, Italy
| | - Laura Mazzeo
- Medical Oncology, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milano, Lombardia, Italy
| | - Leonardo Provenzano
- Medical Oncology, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milano, Lombardia, Italy
| | - Andrea Spagnoletti
- Medical Oncology, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milano, Lombardia, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Viscardi
- Medical Oncology, Department of Precision Medicine, Università degli Studi della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Caserta, Campania, Italy
| | - Francesco Sgambelluri
- Department of Research, Human Tumors Immunobiology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milano, Lombardia, Italy
| | - Silvia Brich
- Department of Advanced Diagnostics, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan, Italy
| | - Vanja Miskovic
- Dipartimento di Elettronica, Informazione e Bioingegneria, Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Lombardia, Italy
| | | | - Francesco Trovo'
- Dipartimento di Elettronica, Informazione e Bioingegneria, Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Lombardia, Italy
| | - Sara Manglaviti
- Medical Oncology, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milano, Lombardia, Italy
| | - Claudia Giani
- Medical Oncology, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milano, Lombardia, Italy
| | - Paolo Ambrosini
- Medical Oncology, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milano, Lombardia, Italy
| | - Rita Leporati
- Medical Oncology, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milano, Lombardia, Italy
| | - Andrea Franza
- Medical Oncology, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milano, Lombardia, Italy
| | - John McCulloch
- Genetics and Microbiome Core, Laboratory of Integrative Cancer Immunology, Center for Cancer Research, NCI, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Tommaso Torelli
- Department of Advanced Diagnostics, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan, Italy
| | - Andrea Anichini
- Department of Research, Human Tumors Immunobiology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milano, Lombardia, Italy
| | - Roberta Mortarini
- Department of Research, Human Tumors Immunobiology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milano, Lombardia, Italy
| | - Giorgio Trinchieri
- Laboratory of Integrative Cancer Immunology, Center for Cancer Research, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Giancarlo Pruneri
- Department of Oncology and Hemato-Oncology, University of Milan, Milano, Lombardia, Italy
| | - Valter Torri
- Oncology department, Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research (IRCCS), Milano, Lombardia, Italy
| | - Filippo De Braud
- Medical Oncology, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milano, Lombardia, Italy
- Department of Oncology and Hemato-Oncology, University of Milan, Milano, Lombardia, Italy
| | - Claudia Proto
- Medical Oncology, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milano, Lombardia, Italy
| | - Monica Ganzinelli
- Medical Oncology, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milano, Lombardia, Italy
| | - Marina Chiara Garassino
- Medical Oncology, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milano, Lombardia, Italy
- Thoracic Oncology Program, Section of Hematology/Oncology, University of Chicago Department of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA
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Moschella F, Buccione C, Ruspantini I, Castiello L, Rozo Gonzalez A, Iacobone F, Ferraresi V, Palermo B, Nisticò P, Belardelli F, Proietti E, Macchia I, Urbani F. Blood immune cells as potential biomarkers predicting relapse-free survival of stage III/IV resected melanoma patients treated with peptide-based vaccination and interferon-alpha. Front Oncol 2023; 13:1145667. [PMID: 37274275 PMCID: PMC10233106 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2023.1145667] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2023] [Accepted: 04/24/2023] [Indexed: 06/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Despite the recent approval of several therapies in the adjuvant setting of melanoma, tumor relapse still occurs in a significant number of completely resected stage III-IV patients. In this context, the use of cancer vaccines is still relevant and may increase the response to immune checkpoint inhibitors. We previously demonstrated safety, immunogenicity and preliminary evidence of clinical efficacy in stage III/IV resected melanoma patients subjected to a combination therapy based on peptide vaccination together with intermittent low-dose interferon-α2b, with or without dacarbazine preconditioning (https://www.clinicaltrialsregister.eu/ctr-search/search, identifier: 2008-008211-26). In this setting, we then focused on pre-treatment patient immune status to highlight possible factors associated with clinical outcome. Methods Multiparametric flow cytometry was used to identify baseline immune profiles in patients' peripheral blood mononuclear cells and correlation with the patient clinical outcome. Receiver operating characteristic curve, Kaplan-Meier survival and principal component analyses were used to evaluate the predictive power of the identified markers. Results We identified 12 different circulating T and NK cell subsets with significant (p ≤ 0.05) differential baseline levels in patients who later relapsed with respect to patients who remained free of disease. All 12 parameters showed a good prognostic accuracy (AUC>0.7, p ≤ 0.05) and 11 of them significantly predicted the relapse-free survival. Remarkably, 3 classifiers also predicted the overall survival. Focusing on immune cell subsets that can be analyzed through simple surface staining, three subsets were identified, namely regulatory T cells, CD56dimCD16- NK cells and central memory γδ T cells. Each subset showed an AUC>0.8 and principal component analysis significantly grouped relapsing and non-relapsing patients (p=0.034). These three subsets were used to calculate a combination score that was able to perfectly distinguish relapsing and non-relapsing patients (AUC=1; p=0). Noticeably, patients with a combined score ≥2 demonstrated a strong advantage in both relapse-free (p=0.002) and overall (p=0.011) survival as compared to patients with a score <2. Discussion Predictive markers may be used to guide patient selection for personalized therapies and/or improve follow-up strategies. This study provides preliminary evidence on the identification of peripheral blood immune biomarkers potentially capable of predicting the clinical response to combined vaccine-based adjuvant therapies in melanoma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Federica Moschella
- Department of Oncology and Molecular Medicine, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
| | - Carla Buccione
- Department of Oncology and Molecular Medicine, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
| | | | | | - Andrea Rozo Gonzalez
- Department of Oncology and Molecular Medicine, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
| | - Floriana Iacobone
- Department of Oncology and Molecular Medicine, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
| | - Virginia Ferraresi
- Department of Medical Oncology 1, Scientific Institute for Research, Hospitalization and Healthcare (IRCCS) Regina Elena National Cancer Institute, Rome, Italy
| | - Belinda Palermo
- Tumor Immunology and Immunotherapy Unit, Department of Research, Advanced Diagnostics and Technological Innovation, Scientific Institute for Research, Hospitalization and Healthcare (IRCCS) Regina Elena National Cancer Institute, Rome, Italy
| | - Paola Nisticò
- Tumor Immunology and Immunotherapy Unit, Department of Research, Advanced Diagnostics and Technological Innovation, Scientific Institute for Research, Hospitalization and Healthcare (IRCCS) Regina Elena National Cancer Institute, Rome, Italy
| | - Filippo Belardelli
- Institute of Translational Pharmacology, National Research Council (CNR), Rome, Italy
| | - Enrico Proietti
- Department of Oncology and Molecular Medicine, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
| | - Iole Macchia
- Department of Oncology and Molecular Medicine, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
| | - Francesca Urbani
- Department of Oncology and Molecular Medicine, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
- Medical Biotechnology and Translational Medicine PhD School, II University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, Rome, Italy
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Wang H, Arulraj T, Kimko H, Popel AS. Generating immunogenomic data-guided virtual patients using a QSP model to predict response of advanced NSCLC to PD-L1 inhibition. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.04.25.538191. [PMID: 37162938 PMCID: PMC10168221 DOI: 10.1101/2023.04.25.538191] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
Generating realistic virtual patients from a limited amount of patient data is one of the major challenges for quantitative systems pharmacology modeling in immuno-oncology. Quantitative systems pharmacology (QSP) is a mathematical modeling methodology that integrates mechanistic knowledge of biological systems to investigate dynamics in a whole system during disease progression and drug treatment. In the present analysis, we parameterized our previously published QSP model of the cancer-immunity cycle to non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and generated a virtual patient cohort to predict clinical response to PD-L1 inhibition in NSCLC. The virtual patient generation was guided by immunogenomic data from iAtlas portal and population pharmacokinetic data of durvalumab, a PD-L1 inhibitor. With virtual patients generated following the immunogenomic data distribution, our model predicted a response rate of 18.6% (95% bootstrap confidence interval: 13.3-24.2%) and identified CD8/Treg ratio as a potential predictive biomarker in addition to PD-L1 expression and tumor mutational burden. We demonstrated that omics data served as a reliable resource for virtual patient generation techniques in immuno-oncology using QSP models.
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Han J, Correa da Rosa J, Agarwal A, Owji S, Yassky D, Luu Y, Shah A, Estrada Y, Ungar J, Sarin KY, Krueger JG, Gulati N. Modulation of Inflammatory Proteins in Serum May Reflect Cutaneous Immune Responses in Cancer Immunotherapy. JID INNOVATIONS 2023; 3:100179. [PMID: 36876222 PMCID: PMC9982329 DOI: 10.1016/j.xjidi.2022.100179] [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: 06/14/2022] [Revised: 11/28/2022] [Accepted: 12/05/2022] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Diphencyprone (DPCP), a topical contact sensitizer, has shown efficacy in treating cutaneous melanoma metastases, including at times beyond the directly treated sites, but biomarkers indicative of treatment response have not been characterized. Thus, we performed a proteomic analysis of the skin and serum of five patients with cutaneous melanoma metastases treated with DPCP on days 0, 63, and 112 of the treatment course. In the serum, we found a significant upregulation (P < 0.05) in 13 of 96 assessed immuno-oncology proteins after DPCP treatment. Upregulated proteins included those of the T helper 1 axis (CXCL9, CXCL10), immune checkpoint proteins (PD-1), and various proteins with roles in promoting tumor immunity such as CD80 and TNFRSF4/9. Given the positive clinical response to topical treatment noted in the five patients studied, these proteins may represent prognostic biomarkers in the serum for evaluating the efficacy of DPCP treatment of cutaneous melanoma metastases. Because DPCP does not lead to nonspecific immune-related adverse events seen with immune checkpoint inhibitors, our study provides evidence for potential tumor-specific systemic immune activation and systemic antitumor effectors elicited by topical DPCP.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph Han
- Department of Dermatology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
| | - Joel Correa da Rosa
- Department of Dermatology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
| | - Aneesh Agarwal
- Department of Dermatology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
| | - Shayan Owji
- Department of Dermatology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
| | - Daniel Yassky
- Department of Dermatology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
| | - Yen Luu
- School of Medicine, University of Missouri-Kansas City, Kansas City, Missouri, USA
| | - Aatman Shah
- Department of Dermatology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
| | - Yeriel Estrada
- Department of Dermatology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
| | - Jonathan Ungar
- Department of Dermatology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
| | - Kavita Y Sarin
- Department of Dermatology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA
| | - James G Krueger
- Laboratory for Investigative Dermatology, The Rockefeller University, New York, New York, USA
| | - Nicholas Gulati
- Department of Dermatology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
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Al-Showbaki L, Wilson B, Tamimi F, Molto C, Mittal A, Cescon DW, Amir E. Changes in circulating tumor DNA and outcomes in solid tumors treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors: a systematic review. J Immunother Cancer 2023; 11:jitc-2022-005854. [PMID: 36792122 PMCID: PMC9933752 DOI: 10.1136/jitc-2022-005854] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/18/2023] [Indexed: 02/17/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Quantification of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) levels is a reliable prognostic tool in several malignancies. Dynamic changes in ctDNA levels in response to treatment may also provide prognostic information. Here, we explore the value of changes in ctDNA levels in response to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). METHODS We searched MEDLINE (host: PubMed) for trials of ICIs in advanced solid tumors in which outcomes were reported based on change in ctDNA levels. ctDNA reduction was defined as reported in individual trials. Typically, this was either >50% reduction or a reduction to undetectable levels. We extracted HRs and related 95% CIs and/or p values comparing ctDNA reduction versus no reduction for progression-free survival (PFS) and/or overall survival (OS). Data were then pooled in a meta-analysis. Variation in effect size was examined using subgroup analyses. RESULTS Eighteen trials were included in the meta-analysis. ctDNA levels were detectable in all participants in all studies prior to initiation of ICIs. A reduction in ctDNA measured 6-16 weeks after starting treatment was associated with significantly better PFS (HR 0.20; 95% CI, 0.14 to 0.28; p<0.001). Similarly, OS was superior in patients with reduced ctDNA levels (HR 0.18; 95% CI, 0.12 to 0.26; p<0.001). The results were consistent across all disease sites, lines of treatment, magnitude of change (to undetectable vs >50% reduction) and whether treatment exposure comprised single or combination ICIs. CONCLUSIONS In advanced solid tumors, a reduction in ctDNA levels in response to ICIs is associated with substantial improvements in outcome. ctDNA change is an early response biomarker which may allow for de-escalation of cross-sectional imaging in patients receiving ICIs or support treatment de-escalation strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laith Al-Showbaki
- Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, The University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan
| | - Brooke Wilson
- Division of Medical Oncology and Hematology, Princess Margaret Hospital Cancer Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Faris Tamimi
- Division of Medical Oncology and Hematology, Princess Margaret Hospital Cancer Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Consolacion Molto
- Division of Medical Oncology and Hematology, Princess Margaret Hospital Cancer Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Abhenil Mittal
- Division of Medical Oncology and Hematology, Princess Margaret Hospital Cancer Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - David W Cescon
- Division of Medical Oncology and Hematology, Princess Margaret Hospital Cancer Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Eitan Amir
- Division of Medical Oncology and Hematology, Princess Margaret Hospital Cancer Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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Zhang W, Cao J, Liu K, Qu Z, Zheng Y, Yu J, Yu Y, Wang Y, Wu W. Non-invasive plasma testing for CD274 UTR structural variations by next-generation sequencing in cancer. Cell Death Dis 2023; 9:35. [PMID: 36717553 PMCID: PMC9887064 DOI: 10.1038/s41420-023-01316-1] [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: 11/22/2022] [Revised: 01/05/2023] [Accepted: 01/09/2023] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
Immunotherapy is now the main choice of systemic therapy for many cancer patients, while current biomarkers for tumor immunotherapy may be limited by the accessibility of patient tumor tissue or tumor neoplastic content. Rare mutation in the 5' and 3'-untranslated region (UTR) of CD274 gene (Protein name: PD-L1) has been recently reported in hematologic and solid tumors as a potential biomarker for assessing efficacy during immunotherapy. However, multi-omics analysis for CD274 UTR region, especially circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), have been little explored in the pan-cancer perspective. We developed a cSMART2.0 technology featured with higher capture efficiency and homogeneity to detect this rare structural variant in 2249 Chinese patients' cohort with multiple cancers. An incidence of 0.36% was detected in this cohort, consistent with TCGA (The Cancer Genome Atlas), while the prevalence of SV in CD274 UTR region in liver and breast cancer were significantly higher than TCGA. The liquid biopsy result from ctDNA was 100% concordance with gDNA result getting from tumor tissue detection, and further validated by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and multiplex immunofluorescence (mIF) experiments. Patients carrying this SV in CD274 UTR region without driver gene mutation responded to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). This study proves that rare structural variants in CD274 UTR region exist in various cancer in Chinese population for the first time, which can induce immune escape and be used for prediction of response to ICIs. Liquid biopsy based cSMART 2.0 technology could offer more sensitive and accurate detection to navigate potential ICIs patients and to benefit patients with advanced disease when tissue samples are not available.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jian Cao
- Berry Oncology Corporation, Beijing, China
| | - Ke Liu
- Berry Oncology Corporation, Beijing, China
| | - Ziwei Qu
- Berry Oncology Corporation, Beijing, China
| | - Ying Zheng
- Berry Oncology Corporation, Beijing, China
| | - Jun Yu
- Berry Oncology Corporation, Beijing, China
| | - Yishan Yu
- grid.410587.fDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Shandong Cancer Hospital and Institute, Shandong First Medical University and Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan, China
| | - Yongsheng Wang
- grid.13291.380000 0001 0807 1581Thoracic Oncology Ward, Cancer Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Wendy Wu
- Berry Oncology Corporation, Beijing, China
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Du X, Wen S, Shi R, Xia J, Wang R, Zhang Y, Pan B, Wu X, Zhu W, Feng J, Wang X, Shen B. Peripheral blood lymphocytes differentiation patterns in responses / outcomes to immune checkpoint blockade therapies in non-small cell lung cancer: a retrospective study. BMC Cancer 2023; 23:83. [PMID: 36698098 PMCID: PMC9875514 DOI: 10.1186/s12885-023-10502-4] [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: 09/06/2022] [Accepted: 01/02/2023] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Programmed Cell Death-1/ Programmed Death-ligand 1 (PD-1 / PD-L1) inhibitor therapies targeting immunocytes induce persistent tumor remission in various cancers. However, the appropriate biomarkers for the therapeutic efficacy of PD-L1 and PD-1 blockade remain elusive. MATERIALS AND METHODS For a comprehensive analysis of peri-treatment lymphocyte differentiation, in the current study, we enrolled 146 non-small cell lung cancer patients who received α-PD-1 therapies for exploring the peripheral blood lymphocyte differentiation pattern at baseline and post-treatment (dynamic changes) by flow cytometry. RESULTS At baseline, CD4+ / CD8+ T cell ratio predicts good responses and outcomes, but activated T cell and cytotoxic T cell counts predict poor responses and outcomes. And for dynamic changes, after 6 weeks of immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) treatment, compared with baseline level, the elevation of total T and B cell counts indicate poor responses, and total T and TH cell counts indicate poor prognosis while activated T cell predicts good prognosis. And after 12 weeks, elevated total lymphocyte, cytotoxic T cell counts, and decreased total T cell counts and CD4+ / CD8+ T cell ratio predict good responses / outcomes. Our clinical predicting model shows good performance in predicting ICB treatment responses / outcomes. CONCLUSION Patients with favorable clinical responses / outcomes have distinctive peripheral blood immunocyte differentiation characteristics, indicating the potential of utilizing the peripheral immunocyte differentiation patterns for predicting ICB responses / outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoyue Du
- grid.452509.f0000 0004 1764 4566Department of Oncology, The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Jiangsu Cancer Hospital, Jiangsu Institute of Cancer Research, Nanjing, China
| | - Shaodi Wen
- grid.452509.f0000 0004 1764 4566Department of Oncology, The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Jiangsu Cancer Hospital, Jiangsu Institute of Cancer Research, Nanjing, China
| | - Run Shi
- grid.412676.00000 0004 1799 0784Department of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
| | - Jingwei Xia
- grid.452509.f0000 0004 1764 4566Department of Oncology, The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Jiangsu Cancer Hospital, Jiangsu Institute of Cancer Research, Nanjing, China
| | - Ruotong Wang
- grid.452509.f0000 0004 1764 4566Department of Oncology, The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Jiangsu Cancer Hospital, Jiangsu Institute of Cancer Research, Nanjing, China
| | - Yihan Zhang
- grid.452509.f0000 0004 1764 4566Department of Oncology, The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Jiangsu Cancer Hospital, Jiangsu Institute of Cancer Research, Nanjing, China
| | - Banzhou Pan
- grid.452509.f0000 0004 1764 4566Department of Oncology, The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Jiangsu Cancer Hospital, Jiangsu Institute of Cancer Research, Nanjing, China
| | - Xiaoliu Wu
- grid.452509.f0000 0004 1764 4566Flow Cytometry Core Facility, The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Jiangsu Cancer Hospital, Jiangsu Institute of Cancer Research, Nanjing, China
| | - Wei Zhu
- grid.440785.a0000 0001 0743 511XSchool of Medicine, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China
| | - Jifeng Feng
- grid.452509.f0000 0004 1764 4566Department of Oncology, The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Jiangsu Cancer Hospital, Jiangsu Institute of Cancer Research, Nanjing, China
| | - Xin Wang
- Department of Oncology, The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Jiangsu Cancer Hospital, Jiangsu Institute of Cancer Research, Nanjing, China.
| | - Bo Shen
- Department of Oncology, The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Jiangsu Cancer Hospital, Jiangsu Institute of Cancer Research, Nanjing, China.
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Yang H, Kang B, Ha Y, Lee SH, Kim I, Kim H, Lee WS, Kim G, Jung S, Rha SY, Gaillard VE, Cheon J, Kim C, Chon HJ. High serum IL-6 correlates with reduced clinical benefit of atezolizumab and bevacizumab in unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma. JHEP Rep 2023; 5:100672. [PMID: 36866388 PMCID: PMC9972403 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhepr.2023.100672] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2022] [Revised: 12/22/2022] [Accepted: 12/24/2022] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Background & Aims We elucidated the clinical and immunologic implications of serum IL-6 levels in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treated with atezolizumab and bevacizumab (Ate/Bev). Methods We prospectively enrolled 165 patients with unresectable HCC (discovery cohort: 84 patients from three centres; validation cohort: 81 patients from one centre). Baseline blood samples were analysed using a flow cytometric bead array. The tumour immune microenvironment was analysed using RNA sequencing. Results In the discovery cohort, clinical benefit 6 months (CB6m) was defined as complete or partial response, or stable disease for ≥6 months. Among various blood-based biomarkers, serum IL-6 levels were significantly higher in participants without CB6m than in those with CB6m (mean 11.56 vs. 5.05 pg/ml, p = 0.02). Using maximally selected rank statistics, the optimal cut-off value for high IL-6 was determined as 18.49 pg/ml, and 15.2% of participants were found to have high IL-6 levels at baseline. In both the discovery and validation cohorts, participants with high baseline IL-6 levels had a reduced response rate and worse progression-free and overall survival after Ate/Bev treatment compared with those with low baseline IL-6 levels. In multivariable Cox regression analysis, the clinical implications of high IL-6 levels persisted, even after adjusting for various confounding factors. Participants with high IL-6 levels showed reduced interferon-γ and tumour necrosis factor-α secretion from CD8+ T cells. Moreover, excess IL-6 suppressed cytokine production and proliferation of CD8+ T cells. Finally, participants with high IL-6 levels exhibited a non-T-cell-inflamed immunosuppressive tumour microenvironment. Conclusions High baseline IL-6 levels can be associated with poor clinical outcomes and impaired T-cell function in patients with unresectable HCC after Ate/Bev treatment. Impact and implications Although patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who respond to treatment with atezolizumab and bevacizumab exhibit favourable clinical outcomes, a fraction of these still experience primary resistance. We found that high baseline serum levels of IL-6 correlate with poor clinical outcomes and impaired T-cell response in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma treated with atezolizumab and bevacizumab.
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Key Words
- AFP, alpha-foetoprotein
- Ate/Bev, atezolizumab and bevacizumab
- Atezolizumab
- BCLC, Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer
- Bevacizumab
- CB6m, clinical benefit 6 months
- CONSORT, Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials
- CR, complete response
- CRAFITY, C-reactive protein and AFP in immunotherapy
- CTLA-4, cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4
- DC, dendritic cell
- ECOG, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group
- FFPE, formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded
- HCC, hepatocellular carcinoma
- HR, hazard ratio
- Hepatocellular carcinoma
- IFN-γ, interferon-γ
- IL-6
- Immunotherapy
- MDSC, myeloid-derived suppressor cell
- MSI, microsatellite instability
- MVI, macrovascular invasion
- ORR, objective response rate
- OS, overall survival
- PBMC, peripheral blood mononuclear cell
- PD, progressive disease
- PD-1, programmed-death-1
- PD-L1, programmed-death ligand-1
- PFS, progression-free survival
- PR, partial response
- RECIST, Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumours
- SD, stable disease
- TME, tumour microenvironment
- TNF-α, tumour necrosis factor-α
- VEGF, vascular endothelial growth factor
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Affiliation(s)
- Hannah Yang
- Medical Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, CHA Bundang Medical Center, CHA University, Seongnam, Republic of Korea
| | - Beodeul Kang
- Medical Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, CHA Bundang Medical Center, CHA University, Seongnam, Republic of Korea,Yonsei Graduate School, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Yeonjung Ha
- Department of Gastroenterology, CHA Bundang Medical Center, Seongnam, Republic of Korea
| | - Sung Hwan Lee
- Department of Surgery, CHA Bundang Medical Center, Seongnam, Republic of Korea
| | - Ilhwan Kim
- Division of Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Inje University College of Medicine, Haeundae Paik Hospital, Busan, Republic of Korea
| | - Hyeyeong Kim
- Department of Internal Medicine, Ulsan University Hospital, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Ulsan, Republic of Korea
| | - Won Suk Lee
- Medical Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, CHA Bundang Medical Center, CHA University, Seongnam, Republic of Korea
| | - Gwangil Kim
- Department of Pathology, CHA Bundang Medical Center, Seongnam, Republic of Korea
| | - Sanghoon Jung
- Department of Radiology, CHA Bundang Medical Center, Seongnam, Republic of Korea
| | - Sun Young Rha
- Yonsei Graduate School, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea,Division of Medical Oncology, Yonsei Cancer Center, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | | | - Jaekyung Cheon
- Medical Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, CHA Bundang Medical Center, CHA University, Seongnam, Republic of Korea,Corresponding authors. Address: Medical Oncology, CHA Bundang Medical Center, 59 Yatap-ro, Bundang-gu, Seongnam 13496, Republic of Korea. Tel.: +82-31-780-7590; Fax: +82-31-780-3929.
| | - Chan Kim
- Medical Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, CHA Bundang Medical Center, CHA University, Seongnam, Republic of Korea,Corresponding authors. Address: Medical Oncology, CHA Bundang Medical Center, 59 Yatap-ro, Bundang-gu, Seongnam 13496, Republic of Korea. Tel.: +82-31-780-7590; Fax: +82-31-780-3929.
| | - Hong Jae Chon
- Medical Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, CHA Bundang Medical Center, CHA University, Seongnam, Republic of Korea,Corresponding authors. Address: Medical Oncology, CHA Bundang Medical Center, 59 Yatap-ro, Bundang-gu, Seongnam 13496, Republic of Korea. Tel.: +82-31-780-7590; Fax: +82-31-780-3929.
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High Serum Levels of IL-6 Predict Poor Responses in Patients Treated with Pembrolizumab plus Axitinib for Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma. Cancers (Basel) 2022; 14:cancers14235985. [PMID: 36497467 PMCID: PMC9738341 DOI: 10.3390/cancers14235985] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2022] [Revised: 11/21/2022] [Accepted: 12/01/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is the most common type of kidney malignancy worldwide with Pembrolizumab and axitinib treatment (Pembro/Axi) amongst the most effective first-line immunotherapies for advanced RCC. However, it remains difficult to predict treatment response and early resistance. Therefore, we evaluated whether baseline serum interleukin-6 (IL-6) could be a predictive biomarker. Between November 2019 and December 2021, 58 patients with advanced RCC were enrolled, administered first-line Pembro/Axi, and baseline blood samples were analyzed using flow cytometry. The mean baseline serum IL-6 concentration was 8.6 pg/mL in responders and 84.1 pg/mL in patients with progressive disease. The IL-6 cut-off value was set at 6.5 pg/mL using time-dependent receiver operating characteristic curves, with 37.9% of patients having high baseline serum IL-6 levels and 62.1% having low levels. Objective response rates were 58.3% and 36.4% in low and high IL-6 groups, respectively. Overall survival and progression-free survival were longer in patients with low IL-6 levels than in those with high levels. High IL-6 levels were related to reduced interferon-γ and tumor necrosis factor-α production from CD8+ T cells. Overall, high baseline serum IL-6 levels were associated with worse survival outcomes and reduced T-cell responses in Pembro/Axi-treated advanced RCC patients.
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Hou W, Yi C, Zhu H. Predictive biomarkers of colon cancer immunotherapy: Present and future. Front Immunol 2022; 13:1032314. [PMID: 36483562 PMCID: PMC9722772 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.1032314] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2022] [Accepted: 11/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Immunotherapy has revolutionized colon cancer treatment. Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have shown clinical benefits for colon cancer patients, especially those with high microsatellite instability (MSI-H). In 2020, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved ICI pembrolizumab as the first-line treatment for metastatic MSI-H colon cancer patients. Additionally, neoadjuvant immunotherapy has presented efficacy in treating early-stage colon cancer patients. Although MSI has been thought of as an effective predictive biomarker for colon cancer immunotherapy, only a small proportion of colon cancer patients were MSI-H, and certain colon cancer patients with MSI-H presented intrinsic or acquired resistance to immunotherapy. Thus, further search for predictive biomarkers to stratify patients is meaningful in colon cancer immunotherapy. Except for MSI, other biomarkers, such as PD-L1 expression level, tumor mutation burden (TMB), tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), certain gut microbiota, ctDNA, and circulating immune cells were also proposed to be correlated with patient survival and ICI efficacy in some colon cancer clinical studies. Moreover, developing new diagnostic techniques helps identify accurate predictive biomarkers for colon cancer immunotherapy. In this review, we outline the reported predictive biomarkers in colon cancer immunotherapy and further discuss the prospects of technological changes for biomarker development in colon cancer immunotherapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wanting Hou
- Department of Medical Oncology Cancer Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Sichuan, China
| | - Cheng Yi
- Department of Medical Oncology Cancer Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Sichuan, China
| | - Hong Zhu
- Department of Medical Oncology Cancer Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Sichuan, China
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Lee JM, Hung YP, Chou KY, Lee CY, Lin SR, Tsai YH, Lai WY, Shao YY, Hsu C, Hsu CH, Chao Y. Artificial intelligence-based immunoprofiling serves as a potentially predictive biomarker of nivolumab treatment for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. Front Med (Lausanne) 2022; 9:1008855. [PMID: 36425096 PMCID: PMC9679144 DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2022.1008855] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2022] [Accepted: 10/24/2022] [Indexed: 08/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) have been applied in treating advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (aHCC) patients, but few patients exhibit stable and lasting responses. Moreover, identifying aHCC patients suitable for ICI treatment is still challenged. This study aimed to evaluate whether dissecting peripheral immune cell subsets by Mann-Whitney U test and artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms could serve as predictive biomarkers of nivolumab treatment for aHCC. Disease control group carried significantly increased percentages of PD-L1+ monocytes, PD-L1+ CD8 T cells, PD-L1+ CD8 NKT cells, and decreased percentages of PD-L1+ CD8 NKT cells via Mann-Whitney U test. By recursive feature elimination method, five featured subsets (CD4 NKTreg, PD-1+ CD8 T cells, PD-1+ CD8 NKT cells, PD-L1+ CD8 T cells and PD-L1+ monocytes) were selected for AI training. The featured subsets were highly overlapping with ones identified via Mann-Whitney U test. Trained AI algorithms committed valuable AUC from 0.8417 to 0.875 to significantly separate disease control group from disease progression group, and SHAP value ranking also revealed PD-L1+ monocytes and PD-L1+ CD8 T cells exclusively and significantly contributed to this discrimination. In summary, the current study demonstrated that integrally analyzing immune cell profiling with AI algorithms could serve as predictive biomarkers of ICI treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jan-Mou Lee
- FullHope Biomedical Co., Ltd., New Taipei City, Taiwan
| | - Yi-Ping Hung
- Department of Oncology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
- School of Medicine, College of Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Kai-Yuan Chou
- School of Medicine, College of Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Cheng-Yun Lee
- School of Medicine, College of Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Shian-Ren Lin
- School of Medicine, College of Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Ya-Han Tsai
- School of Medicine, College of Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Wan-Yu Lai
- School of Medicine, College of Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Yu-Yun Shao
- College of Medicine, Graduate Institute of Oncology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
- Department of Medical Oncology, National Taiwan University Cancer Center, Taipei, Taiwan
- Department of Oncology, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Chiun Hsu
- College of Medicine, Graduate Institute of Oncology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
- Department of Oncology, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Chih-Hung Hsu
- College of Medicine, Graduate Institute of Oncology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
- Department of Oncology, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Yee Chao
- Department of Oncology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
- School of Medicine, College of Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan
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Sung PS, Lee IK, Roh PR, Kang MW, Ahn J, Yoon SK. Blood-based biomarkers for immune-based therapy in advanced HCC: Promising but a long way to go. Front Oncol 2022; 12:1028728. [DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2022.1028728] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2022] [Accepted: 10/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The introduction of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) represents a key shift in the management strategy for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, there is a paucity of predictive biomarkers that facilitate the identification of patients that would respond to ICI therapy. Although several researchers have attempted to resolve the issue, the data is insufficient to alter daily clinical practice. The use of minimally invasive procedures to obtain patient-derived specimen, such as using blood-based samples, is increasingly preferred. Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) can be isolated from the blood of cancer patients, and liquid biopsies can provide sufficient material to enable ongoing monitoring of HCC. This is particularly significant for patients for whom surgery is not indicated, including those with advanced HCC. In this review, we summarize the current state of understanding of blood-based biomarkers for ICI-based therapy in advanced HCC, which is promising despite there is still a long way to go.
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Mollavelioglu B, Cetin Aktas E, Cabioglu N, Abbasov A, Onder S, Emiroglu S, Tükenmez M, Muslumanoglu M, Igci A, Deniz G, Ozmen V. High co-expression of immune checkpoint receptors PD-1, CTLA-4, LAG-3, TIM-3, and TIGIT on tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in early-stage breast cancer. World J Surg Oncol 2022; 20:349. [PMID: 36271406 DOI: 10.1186/s12957-022-02810-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2022] [Accepted: 09/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
High expression of immune checkpoint receptors (ICRs) in the tumor microenvironment regulates the anti-tumor response. In this study, the differential expressions of ICRs on tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in patients with early-stage breast cancer were investigated.The study included 32 patients who underwent surgery with a diagnosis of early-stage breast cancer between September 2018 and March 2020. TIL isolation was performed using a MACS tumor separation device and tumor separation kit. PD-1, CTLA-4, LAG-3, TIM-3, and TIGIT expression of cytotoxic T and natural killer (NK) cells on TILs and peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) were determined by flow cytometry.Patients with a high Ki-67 index, high TIL density, and HER-2 positivity were more likely to have increased CD16+CD56dim NK cells on TILs. Patients with T2 tumors were more likely to have increased expression of PD-1, LAG-3, and TIGIT on tumor-infiltrating CD8+ cytotoxic T cells than those with T1 tumors. PD-1, CTLA-4, TIGIT, LAG-3, and TIM-3 expression of CD8+ T and CD16-CD56bright NK cells in TILs showed significant positive correlations with each other. PD1+CD8+, TIGIT+CD16+, and CTLA-4+CD56+ cells in PBLs and TILs were found to be negatively correlated, whereas only TIM-3+ expression of CD8+ T and CD16+CD56dim cells in PBLs and TILs showed positive correlations.Our results suggest that CD16+CD56dim NK cells on TILs may play a major role in the immune response against HER2-positive or highly proliferating breast tumors in patients with early-stage breast cancer. Furthermore, various ICRs were found to be highly co-expressed with each other on TILs, including PD-1, CTLA-4, LAG-3, TIM-3, and TIGIT. These receptors may synergistically suppress the response to the tumor, which may trigger immune escape mechanisms in the early stage of carcinogenesis. However, ICR expressions other than TIM3 on PBLs were not found to accompany their counterparts on TILs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Baran Mollavelioglu
- Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, Department of General Surgery, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Esin Cetin Aktas
- Department of Immunology, Istanbul University, Aziz Sancar Institute of Experimental Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Neslihan Cabioglu
- Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, Department of General Surgery, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Aykhan Abbasov
- Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, Department of General Surgery, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Semen Onder
- Department of Pathology, Istanbul University Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Selman Emiroglu
- Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, Department of General Surgery, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Mustafa Tükenmez
- Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, Department of General Surgery, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Mahmut Muslumanoglu
- Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, Department of General Surgery, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Abdullah Igci
- Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, Department of General Surgery, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Gunnur Deniz
- Department of Immunology, Istanbul University, Aziz Sancar Institute of Experimental Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Vahit Ozmen
- Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, Department of General Surgery, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey.
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Resilient T-cell responses in patients with advanced cancers. Int J Hematol 2022; 117:634-639. [PMID: 35864292 DOI: 10.1007/s12185-022-03424-7] [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: 05/26/2022] [Revised: 06/21/2022] [Accepted: 07/04/2022] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
Abstract
Although cancer burden in patients with advanced disease results in many failed prior therapies, some patients still achieve durable responses to immunotherapy implying that remnant and resilient cytotoxic T cells are present in these responders. Since patients with more resilient T cells are likely to benefit from immunotherapy, it will be important to determine how resilient T cells in patients can be identified and to define the mechanisms by which tumor-reactive resilient T cells can be generated. In this review, we summarized recent advances in research on resilient T cells in patients with advanced cancers and proposed future research directions. From there, we expect to leverage this knowledge to generate or expand the resilient T cells in patients who do not respond to initial immunotherapy and convert them into responders.
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Nelli F, Panichi V, Fabbri A, Natoni F, Giannarelli D, Topini G, Virtuoso A, Giron Berrios JR, Marrucci E, Pessina G, Silvestri MA, Ruggeri EM. Dynamic Changes of Peripheral NK Cells Predict Outcome in Patients with PD-L1 Positive Non-small-cell Lung Cancer Undergoing Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors as Second-line Therapy. Cancer Invest 2022; 40:710-721. [PMID: 35736808 DOI: 10.1080/07357907.2022.2092635] [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: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
We evaluated immune cell frequencies in peripheral blood samples of 41 NSCLC patients before and after second-line therapy with anti-PD-1/PD-L1 agents. Changes in lymphocyte subsets and their correlation with clinical response, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) were analyzed. We observed an increase in median values of all lymphocyte subsets, being significant only for NK cells. A correlation was retrieved between higher post-treatment NK cell level and clinical benefit. On multivariate analysis, PD-L1 tumor proportion score ≥1% and higher post-treatment NK cell counts were predictive of longer PFS and OS. Co-presence of these factors was characterized by longer survival.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabrizio Nelli
- Department of Oncology and Hematology, Medical Oncology, Central Hospital of Belcolle, Viterbo, Italy
| | - Valentina Panichi
- Department of Oncology and Hematology, Flow Cytometry, Central Hospital of Belcolle, Viterbo, Italy
| | - Agnese Fabbri
- Department of Oncology and Hematology, Medical Oncology, Central Hospital of Belcolle, Viterbo, Italy
| | - Federica Natoni
- Department of Oncology and Hematology, Molecular Biology, Central Hospital of Belcolle, Viterbo, Italy
| | - Diana Giannarelli
- Biostatistics Unit, Scientific Directorate, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli, IRCCS, Rome, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Topini
- Department of Oncology and Hematology, Flow Cytometry, Central Hospital of Belcolle, Viterbo, Italy
| | - Antonella Virtuoso
- Department of Oncology and Hematology, Medical Oncology, Central Hospital of Belcolle, Viterbo, Italy
| | | | - Eleonora Marrucci
- Department of Oncology and Hematology, Medical Oncology, Central Hospital of Belcolle, Viterbo, Italy
| | - Gloria Pessina
- Department of Oncology and Hematology, Molecular Biology, Central Hospital of Belcolle, Viterbo, Italy
| | - Maria Assunta Silvestri
- Department of Oncology and Hematology, Flow Cytometry, Central Hospital of Belcolle, Viterbo, Italy
| | - Enzo Maria Ruggeri
- Department of Oncology and Hematology, Medical Oncology, Central Hospital of Belcolle, Viterbo, Italy
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Su YY, Liu YS, Hsiao CF, Hsu C, Chen LT. Trial Designs for Integrating Novel Therapeutics into the Management of Intermediate-Stage Hepatocellular Carcinoma. J Hepatocell Carcinoma 2022; 9:517-536. [PMID: 35677350 PMCID: PMC9170176 DOI: 10.2147/jhc.s220978] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2022] [Accepted: 04/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Intermediate-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) consists of heterogeneous groups of patients in terms of tumor burden and organ function reserves. Although liver-directed therapy (LDT), including trans-catheter arterial chemoembolization, radiofrequency ablation or even surgical resection, is the recommended frontline treatment modality, intrahepatic and distant failures are common. The recent advances in systemic treatment, notably the introduction of immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI)-based therapy, have significantly improved the objective tumor response rate, quality of response and overall survival in patients with recurrent and advanced HCC. Whether the combination of systemic treatment and LDT can further improve the outcome of patients with intermediate-stage HCC is currently being extensively evaluated. In this article, the recent clinical trials incorporating different ICI-based combinations with different LDT for intermediate-stage HCC were reviewed focusing on trial design issues, including patient selection, endpoint definition, and biomarker development. The strength and caveats of different combination strategies and novel biomarker development were discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yung-Yeh Su
- National Institute of Cancer Research, National Health Research Institutes, Tainan, Taiwan
- Department of Oncology, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
- Institute of Clinical Medicine, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
| | - Yi-Sheng Liu
- Department of Medical Imaging, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medical College, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
| | - Chin-Fu Hsiao
- Institute of Population Health Sciences, National Health Research Institutes, Miaoli, Taiwan
| | - Chiun Hsu
- Department of Oncology, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
- Graduate Institute of Oncology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
- National Taiwan University Cancer Center, Taipei, Taiwan
- Chiun Hsu, Department of Oncology, National Taiwan University Hospital, 7 Chung-Shan South Road, Taipei, 10002, Taiwan, Tel +886 2 23123456 ext. 62859, Fax +886 2 23711174, Email
| | - Li-Tzong Chen
- National Institute of Cancer Research, National Health Research Institutes, Tainan, Taiwan
- Department of Oncology, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
- Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
- Center for Cancer Research, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
- Correspondence: Li-Tzong Chen, Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, 100 Tzyou 1 Road, Kaohsiung, 80756, Taiwan, Tel +886-7-3121101 ext 7451, Fax +886-7-3135612, Email
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Wang T, Denman D, Bacot SM, Feldman GM. Challenges and the Evolving Landscape of Assessing Blood-Based PD-L1 Expression as a Biomarker for Anti-PD-(L)1 Immunotherapy. Biomedicines 2022; 10:1181. [PMID: 35625917 PMCID: PMC9138337 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines10051181] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2022] [Revised: 05/16/2022] [Accepted: 05/17/2022] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
While promising, PD-L1 expression on tumor tissues as assessed by immunohistochemistry has been shown to be an imperfect biomarker that only applies to a limited number of cancers, whereas many patients with PD-L1-negative tumors still respond to anti-PD-(L)1 immunotherapy. Recent studies using patient blood samples to assess immunotherapeutic responsiveness suggests a promising approach to the identification of novel and/or improved biomarkers for anti-PD-(L)1 immunotherapy. In this review, we discuss the advances in our evolving understanding of the regulation and function of PD-L1 expression, which is the foundation for developing blood-based PD-L1 as a biomarker for anti-PD-(L)1 immunotherapy. We further discuss current knowledge and clinical study results for biomarker identification using PD-L1 expression on tumor and immune cells, exosomes, and soluble forms of PD-L1 in the peripheral blood. Finally, we discuss key challenges for the successful development of the potential use of blood-based PD-L1 as a biomarker for anti-PD-(L)1 immunotherapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tao Wang
- Office of Biotechnology Products, Office of Pharmaceutical Quality, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD 20993, USA; (D.D.); (S.M.B.); (G.M.F.)
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Bie F, Tian H, Sun N, Zang R, Zhang M, Song P, Liu L, Peng Y, Bai G, Zhou B, Gao S. Research Progress of Anti-PD-1/PD-L1 Immunotherapy Related Mechanisms and Predictive Biomarkers in NSCLC. Front Oncol 2022; 12:769124. [PMID: 35223466 PMCID: PMC8863729 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2022.769124] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2021] [Accepted: 01/20/2022] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Programmed cell death-1 (PD-1)/programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) is an important pair of immune checkpoints (IC), which play an essential role in the immune escaping process of tumors. Anti-PD-1/PD-L1 immunotherapy can block the suppression effect of the immune system produced by tumor cells through the PD-1/PD-L1 axis and restore the pernicious effect of the immune system on tumor cells. The specific mechanism of anti-PD-1/PD-L1 immunotherapy is closely related to PI3K (phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase)/AKT (AKT serine/threonine kinase 1), JNK (c-Jun N-terminal kinase), NF-kB (nuclear factor-kappa B subunit 1), and other complex signaling pathways. Patients receiving anti-PD-1/PD-L1 immunotherapy are prone to drug resistance. The mechanisms of drug resistance mainly include weakening recognition of tumor antigens by immune cells, inhibiting activation of immune cells, and promoting the production of suppressive immune cells and molecules. Anti-PD-1/PD-L1 immunotherapy plays a vital role in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). It is essential to find better efficacy prediction-related biomarkers and screen patients suitable for immunotherapy. At present, common biomarkers related to predicting immune efficacy mainly include PD-L1 expression level in tumors, tumor mutation burden (TMB), microsatellite instability (MSI)/mismatch repair (MMR), mutations of driver gene, etc. However, the screening efficacy of each indicator is not ideal, and the combined application of multiple indicators is currently used. This article comprehensively reviews anti-PD-1/PD-L1 immunotherapy-related mechanisms, drug resistance-related mechanisms, and therapeutic efficacy-related predictive biomarkers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fenglong Bie
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.,State Key Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
| | - He Tian
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.,State Key Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
| | - Nan Sun
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.,State Key Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
| | - Ruochuan Zang
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
| | - Moyan Zhang
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
| | - Peng Song
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
| | - Lei Liu
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
| | - Yue Peng
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
| | - Guangyu Bai
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
| | - Bolun Zhou
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
| | - Shugeng Gao
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
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Guven DC, Aktepe OH, Aksun MS, Sahin TK, Kavgaci G, Ucgul E, Cakir IY, Yildirim HC, Guner G, Akin S, Kertmen N, Dizdar O, Aksoy S, Erman M, Yalcin S, Kilickap S. The association between albumin-globulin ratio (AGR) and survival in patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors. Cancer Biomark 2021; 34:189-199. [PMID: 34958005 DOI: 10.3233/cbm-210349] [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] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The albumin-globulin ratio (AGR) could be a prognostic biomarker in patients with cancer, although the data is limited in patients treated with immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). OBJECTIVES We aimed to evaluate the association between AGR and survival in ICI-treated patients. METHODS The data of 212 advanced-stage patients were retrospectively evaluated in this cohort study. The association between AGR with overall (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were evaluated with multivariate analyses. Additionally, receptor operating curve (ROC) analysis was conducted to assess the AGR's predictive power in the very early progression (progression within two months) and long-term benefit (more than twelve months survival). RESULTS The median AGR was calculated as 1.21, and patients were classified into AGR-low and high subgroups according to the median. In the multivariate analyses, patients with lower AGR (< 1.21) had decreased OS (HR: 1.530, 95% CI: 1.100-2.127, p= 0.011) and PFS (HR: 1.390, 95% CI: 1.020-1.895, p= 0.037). The area under curve of AGR to detect early progression and long-term benefit were 0.654 (95% CI: 0.562-0.747, p= 0.001) and 0.671 (95% CI: 0.598-0.744, p< 0.001), respectively. CONCLUSIONS In our experience, survival with ICIs was impaired in patients with lower AGR. Additionally, the AGR values could detect the very early progression and long-term benefit ICIs.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Melek Seren Aksun
- Department of Internal Medicine, Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey
| | - Taha Koray Sahin
- Department of Internal Medicine, Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey
| | - Gozde Kavgaci
- Department of Internal Medicine, Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey
| | - Enes Ucgul
- Department of Internal Medicine, Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey
| | - Ibrahim Yahya Cakir
- Department of Internal Medicine, Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey
| | | | - Gurkan Guner
- Hacettepe University Cancer Institute, Ankara, Turkey
| | - Serkan Akin
- Hacettepe University Cancer Institute, Ankara, Turkey
| | | | - Omer Dizdar
- Hacettepe University Cancer Institute, Ankara, Turkey
| | - Sercan Aksoy
- Hacettepe University Cancer Institute, Ankara, Turkey
| | - Mustafa Erman
- Hacettepe University Cancer Institute, Ankara, Turkey
| | - Suayib Yalcin
- Hacettepe University Cancer Institute, Ankara, Turkey
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Park HS, Kim YM, Kim S, Lee WS, Kong SJ, Yang H, Kang B, Cheon J, Shin SJ, Kim C, Chon HJ. High endothelial venule is a surrogate biomarker for T-cell inflamed tumor microenvironment and prognosis in gastric cancer. J Immunother Cancer 2021; 9:jitc-2021-003353. [PMID: 34670828 PMCID: PMC8529985 DOI: 10.1136/jitc-2021-003353] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/27/2021] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Background High endothelial venule (HEV) is a specialized vasculature for lymphocyte trafficking. While HEVs are frequently observed within gastric cancer (GC), the vascular–immune interaction between HEV and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) has not been well elucidated. In this study, we aimed to unveil the potential value of HEVs as a surrogate marker for T-cell inflamed immune microenvironment in GC using a large number of prospectively collected surgical specimens of GC. Methods We included 460 patients with GC who underwent surgical resection. Nanostring PanCancer immune profiling was performed to evaluate the immunological phenotype of GCs. HEV density and three distinct patterns of TILs (Crohn-like lymphoid reaction, peritumoral lymphoid reaction, and intratumoral lymphoid reaction) were analyzed for their relationship and evaluated as prognostic factors for relapse-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS). Results HEV-high GC revealed increased infiltration by immune cell subsets, including dendritic cells, CD8+ cytotoxic T cells, and CD4+ helper T cells. In addition, HEV-high GC demonstrated increased immune-modulating chemokines, type I or II interferon pathway, and immune checkpoints, all of which indicate the inflamed tumor microenvironment (TME). All three distinct patterns of TILs were associated with HEV density. In survival analysis, patients with HEV-high GC displayed significantly longer RFS and OS than those with HEV-low GC (p<0.001 for RFS, p<0.001 for OS). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that HEV was the most significant immunological prognostic factor for RFS (patients with high HEV compared with those with low HEV; HR 0.412, 95% CI 0.241 to 0.705, p=0.001) and OS (HR 0.547, 95% CI 0.329 to 0.909, p=0.02) after adjustment for age, stage, and TIL. Conclusion HEV is the most significant immunological prognosticator for RFS and OS in resected GC, indicating inflamed TME.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hyung Soon Park
- Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, St. Vincent's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea (the Republic of)
| | - Yoo Min Kim
- Department of Surgery, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea (the Republic of)
| | - Sewha Kim
- Department of Pathology, CHA Bundang Medical Center, CHA University School of Medicine, Seongnam, Gyeonggi-do, Korea (the Republic of)
| | - Won Suk Lee
- Medical Oncology, CHA Bundang Medical Center, CHA University School of Medicine, Seongnam, Gyeonggi-do, Korea (the Republic of)
| | - So Jung Kong
- Medical Oncology, CHA Bundang Medical Center, CHA University School of Medicine, Seongnam, Gyeonggi-do, Korea (the Republic of)
| | - Hannah Yang
- Medical Oncology, CHA Bundang Medical Center, CHA University School of Medicine, Seongnam, Gyeonggi-do, Korea (the Republic of)
| | - Beodeul Kang
- Medical Oncology, CHA Bundang Medical Center, CHA University School of Medicine, Seongnam, Gyeonggi-do, Korea (the Republic of)
| | - Jaekyung Cheon
- Medical Oncology, CHA Bundang Medical Center, CHA University School of Medicine, Seongnam, Gyeonggi-do, Korea (the Republic of)
| | - Su-Jin Shin
- Department of Pathology, Gangnam Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea (the Republic of)
| | - Chan Kim
- Medical Oncology, CHA Bundang Medical Center, CHA University School of Medicine, Seongnam, Gyeonggi-do, Korea (the Republic of)
| | - Hong Jae Chon
- Medical Oncology, CHA Bundang Medical Center, CHA University School of Medicine, Seongnam, Gyeonggi-do, Korea (the Republic of)
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Kim CW, Chon HJ, Kim C. Combination Immunotherapies to Overcome Intrinsic Resistance to Checkpoint Blockade in Microsatellite Stable Colorectal Cancer. Cancers (Basel) 2021; 13:4906. [PMID: 34638390 PMCID: PMC8507875 DOI: 10.3390/cancers13194906] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2021] [Revised: 09/18/2021] [Accepted: 09/26/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Although immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have shown promising results in the treatment of treating various malignancies, progress has been severely limited in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). ICIs are effective in a fraction of patients with microsatellite instability-high mCRC but have little clinical efficacy in patients with microsatellite stable (MSS) mCRC, which accounts for 95% of mCRC cases. MSS mCRCs are considered to have intrinsic resistance to ICI monotherapy through multiple mechanisms. (1) They are poorly immunogenic because of their low tumor mutation burden; (2) frequent activation of the WNT/β-catenin signaling pathway excludes intratumoral CD8+ T cell immunity; (3) the tumor microenvironment is immunosuppressive because of the presence of various immunosuppressive cells, including tumor-associated macrophages and regulatory T cells; and (4) frequent liver metastasis in MSS mCRC may reduce the efficacy of ICIs. To overcome these resistance mechanisms, combination approaches using various agents, including STING agonists, MEK inhibitors, VEGF/R inhibitors, WNT/β-catenin inhibitors, oncolytic viruses, and chemo/radiotherapy, are actively ongoing. Preliminary evidence of the efficacy of some has been shown in early clinical trials. This review summarizes novel combination immunotherapy strategies described in recent preclinical and clinical studies to overcome the limitations of ICI monotherapy in MSS mCRC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chang Woo Kim
- Department of Surgery, Ajou University School of Medicine, 164 World Cup-ro, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon 16499, Korea;
| | - Hong Jae Chon
- Medical Oncology, CHA Bundang Medical Center, CHA University School of Medicine, 59 Yatap-ro, Bundang-gu, Seongnam 13496, Korea
| | - Chan Kim
- Medical Oncology, CHA Bundang Medical Center, CHA University School of Medicine, 59 Yatap-ro, Bundang-gu, Seongnam 13496, Korea
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