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Busse A, Mochmann LH, Spenke C, Arsenic R, Briest F, Jöhrens K, Lammert H, Sipos B, Kühl AA, Wirtz R, Pavel M, Hummel M, Kaemmerer D, Baum RP, Grabowski P. Immunoprofiling in Neuroendocrine Neoplasms Unveil Immunosuppressive Microenvironment. Cancers (Basel) 2020; 12:E3448. [PMID: 33228231 PMCID: PMC7699546 DOI: 10.3390/cancers12113448] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2020] [Revised: 11/12/2020] [Accepted: 11/16/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Checkpoint inhibitors have shown promising results in a variety of tumors; however, in neuroendocrine tumors (NET) and neuroendocrine carcinomas (NEC), low response rates were reported. We aimed herein to investigate the tumor immune microenvironment in NET/NEC to determine whether checkpoint pathways like programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1)/programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) might play a role in immune escape and whether other escape mechanisms might need to be targeted to enable a functional antitumor response. Forty-eight NET and thirty NEC samples were analyzed by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and mRNA immunoprofiling including digital spatial profiling. Through IHC, both NET/NEC showed stromal, but less intratumoral CD3+ T cell infiltration, although this was significantly higher in NEC compared to NET. Expression of PD1, PD-L1, and T cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain-containing protein 3 (TIM3) on immune cells was low or nearly absent. mRNA immunoprofiling revealed low expression of IFNγ inducible genes in NET and NEC without any spatial heterogeneity. However, we observed an increased mRNA expression of chemokines, which attract myeloid cells in NET and NEC, and a high abundance of genes related to immunosuppressive myeloid cells and genes with immunosuppressive functions like CD47 and CD74. In conclusion, NET and NEC lack signs of an activation of the adaptive immune system, but rather show abundance of several immunosuppressive genes that represent potential targets for immunomodulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonia Busse
- Department of Hematology, Oncology and Tumor Immunology, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Charité–Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, 12203 Berlin, Germany; (L.H.M.); (C.S.); (F.B.); (P.G.)
- German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Partner Site Berlin and German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Liliana H. Mochmann
- Department of Hematology, Oncology and Tumor Immunology, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Charité–Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, 12203 Berlin, Germany; (L.H.M.); (C.S.); (F.B.); (P.G.)
| | - Christiane Spenke
- Department of Hematology, Oncology and Tumor Immunology, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Charité–Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, 12203 Berlin, Germany; (L.H.M.); (C.S.); (F.B.); (P.G.)
| | - Ruza Arsenic
- Institute of Pathology, Charité–Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, 12203 Berlin, Germany; (R.A.); (K.J.); (H.L.); (M.H.)
- Institute für histologische und zytologische Diagnostik AG Aarau, 5000 Aarau, Switzerland
| | - Franziska Briest
- Department of Hematology, Oncology and Tumor Immunology, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Charité–Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, 12203 Berlin, Germany; (L.H.M.); (C.S.); (F.B.); (P.G.)
| | - Korinna Jöhrens
- Institute of Pathology, Charité–Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, 12203 Berlin, Germany; (R.A.); (K.J.); (H.L.); (M.H.)
- Institute of Pathology, Carl Gustav Carus University Hospital Dresden, 01307 Dresden, Germany
| | - Hedwig Lammert
- Institute of Pathology, Charité–Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, 12203 Berlin, Germany; (R.A.); (K.J.); (H.L.); (M.H.)
| | - Bence Sipos
- Department of Medical Oncology and Pneumology (Internal Medicine VIII), University Hospital Tübingen, 72076 Tübingen, Germany;
- Private Practice of Pathology and Molecular Pathology, 70176 Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Anja A. Kühl
- iPATH Berlin—Immunopathology for Experimental Models, Core Unit of the Charité, Charité–Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, 12203 Berlin, Germany;
| | - Ralph Wirtz
- Stratifyer Molecular Oncology GmbH, 50935 Cologne, Germany;
| | - Marianne Pavel
- Department of Endocrinology, Universitatsklinikum Erlangen, 91054 Erlangen, Germany;
| | - Michael Hummel
- Institute of Pathology, Charité–Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, 12203 Berlin, Germany; (R.A.); (K.J.); (H.L.); (M.H.)
- Central Biobank, Berlin Institute of Health, 10178 Berlin, Germany
| | - Daniel Kaemmerer
- Department of General and Visceral Surgery, Zentralklinik Bad Berka, 99437 Bad Berka, Germany;
| | - Richard P. Baum
- CURANOSTICUM Wiesbaden-Frankfurt in der DKD HELIOS Klinik, 65191 Wiesbaden, Germany;
| | - Patricia Grabowski
- Department of Hematology, Oncology and Tumor Immunology, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Charité–Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, 12203 Berlin, Germany; (L.H.M.); (C.S.); (F.B.); (P.G.)
- Institute of Medical Immunology, Campus Virchow Klinikum, Charité–Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, 10117 Berlin, Germany
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