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Haist M, Kaufmann J, Kur IM, Zimmer S, Grabbe S, Schmidberger H, Weigert A, Mayer A. Response to primary chemoradiotherapy of locally advanced oropharyngeal carcinoma is determined by the degree of cytotoxic T cell infiltration within tumor cell aggregates. Front Immunol 2023; 14:1070203. [PMID: 37187729 PMCID: PMC10175951 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1070203] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2022] [Accepted: 04/13/2023] [Indexed: 05/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Effective anti-tumor immune responses are mediated by T cells and require organized, spatially coordinated interactions within the tumor microenvironment (TME). Understanding coordinated T-cell-behavior and deciphering mechanisms of radiotherapy resistance mediated by tumor stem cells will advance risk stratification of oropharyngeal cancer (OPSCC) patients treated with primary chemoradiotherapy (RCTx). Methods To determine the role of CD8 T cells (CTL) and tumor stem cells for response to RCTx, we employed multiplex immunofluorescence stains on pre-treatment biopsy specimens from 86 advanced OPSCC patients and correlated these quantitative data with clinical parameters. Multiplex stains were analyzed at the single-cell level using QuPath and spatial coordination of immune cells within the TME was explored using the R-package Spatstat. Results Our observations demonstrate that a strong CTL-infiltration into the epithelial tumor compartment (HR for overall survival, OS: 0.35; p<0.001) and the expression of PD-L1 on CTL (HR: 0.36; p<0.001) were both associated with a significantly better response and survival upon RCTx. As expected, p16 expression was a strong predictor of improved OS (HR: 0.38; p=0.002) and correlated with overall CTL infiltration (r: 0.358, p<0.001). By contrast, tumor cell proliferative activity, expression of the tumor stem cell marker CD271 and overall CTL infiltration, regardless of the affected compartment, were not associated with response or survival. Conclusion In this study, we could demonstrate the clinical relevance of the spatial organization and the phenotype of CD8 T cells within the TME. In particular, we found that the infiltration of CD8 T cells specifically into the tumor cell compartment was an independent predictive marker for response to chemoradiotherapy, which was strongly associated with p16 expression. Meanwhile, tumor cell proliferation and the expression of stem cell markers showed no independent prognostic effect for patients with primary RCTx and thus requires further study.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maximilian Haist
- Department of Dermatology, University Medical Center of the Johannes-Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany
- Department of Pathology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, United States
- Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, United States
- *Correspondence: Maximilian Haist,
| | - Justus Kaufmann
- Department of Radiation Oncology and Radiotherapy, University Medical Center, Mainz, Germany
| | - Ivan-Maximiliano Kur
- Institute of Biochemistry I, Faculty of Medicine, Goethe-University Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Stefanie Zimmer
- Institute of Pathology, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany
| | - Stephan Grabbe
- Department of Dermatology, University Medical Center of the Johannes-Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany
| | - Heinz Schmidberger
- Department of Radiation Oncology and Radiotherapy, University Medical Center, Mainz, Germany
| | - Andreas Weigert
- Institute of Biochemistry I, Faculty of Medicine, Goethe-University Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Arnulf Mayer
- Institute of Pathology, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany
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Pai SI, Cohen EEW, Lin D, Fountzilas G, Kim ES, Mehlhorn H, Baste N, Clayburgh D, Lipworth L, Resteghini C, Shara N, Fujii T, Zhang J, Stokes M, Wang H, Twumasi-Ankrah P, Wildsmith S, Khaliq A, Melillo G, Shire N. SUPREME-HN: a retrospective biomarker study assessing the prognostic value of PD-L1 expression in patients with recurrent and/or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. J Transl Med 2019; 17:429. [PMID: 31878938 PMCID: PMC6933901 DOI: 10.1186/s12967-019-02182-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2019] [Accepted: 12/18/2019] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Programmed cell death ligand-1 (PD-L1) expression on tumor cells (TCs) is associated with improved survival in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) treated with immunotherapy, although its role as a prognostic factor is controversial. This study investigates whether tumoral expression of PD-L1 is a prognostic marker in patients with recurrent and/or metastatic (R/M) HNSCC treated with standard chemotherapy. Methods This retrospective, multicenter, noninterventional study assessed PD-L1 expression on archival R/M HNSCC tissue samples using the VENTANA PD-L1 (SP263) Assay. PD-L1 high was defined as PD-L1 staining of ≥ 25% TC, with exploratory scoring at TC ≥ 10% and TC ≥ 50%. The primary objective of this study was to estimate the prognostic value of PD-L1 status in terms of overall survival (OS) in patients with R/M HNSCC. Results 412 patients (median age, 62.0 years; 79.9% male; 88.2% Caucasian) were included from 19 sites in seven countries. 132 patients (32.0%) had TC ≥ 25% PD-L1 expression; 199 patients (48.3%) and 85 patients (20.6%) had TC ≥ 10% and ≥ 50%, respectively. OS did not differ significantly across PD-L1 expression (at TC ≥ 25% cutoff median OS: 8.2 months vs TC < 25%, 10.1 months, P = 0.55) or the ≥ 10% and ≥ 50% cutoffs (at TC ≥ 10%, median OS: 9.6 months vs TC < 10%, 9.4 months, P = 0.32, and at TC ≥ 50%, median OS 7.9 vs TC < 50%, 10.0 months, P = 0.39, respectively). Conclusions PD-L1 expression, assessed using the VENTANA PD-L1 (SP263) Assay, was not prognostic of OS in patients with R/M HNSCC treated with standard of care chemotherapies. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02543476. Registered September 4, 2015.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara I Pai
- Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit Street, GRJ 9-904G, Boston, MA, 02114, USA.
| | - Ezra E W Cohen
- UC San Diego Health System, Moores Cancer Center, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Derrick Lin
- Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit Street, GRJ 9-904G, Boston, MA, 02114, USA.,Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, USA
| | | | - Edward S Kim
- Levine Cancer Institute, Atrium Health, Charlotte, NC, USA
| | - Holger Mehlhorn
- Universitaetsklinikum Leipzig, Klinik und Poliklinik fur HNO-Heilkunde, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Neus Baste
- Department of Oncology, Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron & Vall Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO), Barcelona, Spain
| | | | - Loren Lipworth
- Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
| | | | - Nawar Shara
- MedStar Health Research Institute, Hyattsville, MD, USA
| | | | - Jun Zhang
- Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
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Ngamphaiboon N, Chureemas T, Siripoon T, Arsa L, Trachu N, Jiarpinitnun C, Pattaranutaporn P, Sirachainan E, Larbcharoensub N. Characteristics and impact of programmed death-ligand 1 expression, CD8+ tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, and p16 status in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Med Oncol 2019; 36:21. [PMID: 30666437 DOI: 10.1007/s12032-018-1241-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2018] [Accepted: 12/19/2018] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND No predictive biomarker of immune checkpoint inhibitors in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) has been well established. The impact of programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression, CD8+ tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), and p16 status in HNSCC is unclear and may vary according to ethnicity. METHODS HNSCC patients treated between 2007 and 2013 were reviewed. Archival tissues were retrieved for PD-L1, CD8+ TILs, and p16 analyses. PD-L1 expression was evaluated by using the validated SP142 assay on the VENTANA platform. CD8+ TILs were defined by using semiquantitative scoring. RESULTS A total of 203 patients were analyzed. PD-L1 expression was observed in 80% of patients and was significantly associated with older age (P < 0.001). A high CD8+ TIL score (≥ 6) was significantly associated with never-smoking (P = 0.020), oral cavity cancer (P < 0.001), and stage M0 at presentation (P = 0.025). The p16 status was positive in 12% of patients. Patients with a high TIL score had a significantly longer OS (P = 0.032). Patients with PD-L1 expression of 1-49% and ≥ 50% were associated with a significantly shorter OS compared with those with PD-L1 < 1% (P = 0.027 and P = 0.011, respectively). Multivariate analysis showed that PD-L1 ≥ 50% was significantly associated with a poor OS. (HR 2.98 [95% CI 1.2-7.39]; P = 0.019.) CONCLUSIONS: A high prevalence of PD-L1 expression was observed in HNSCC using the validated SP142 assay. PD-L1 expression was associated with older age, while highly PD-L1 expression (≥ 50%) was an independent prognostic factor for poor OS in anti-PD1/PD-L1 untreated HNSCC patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nuttapong Ngamphaiboon
- Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, 270 Rama VI Road, Ratchathewi, Bangkok, 10400, Thailand.
| | - Teeranuch Chureemas
- Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, 270 Rama VI Road, Ratchathewi, Bangkok, 10400, Thailand
| | - Teerada Siripoon
- Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, 270 Rama VI Road, Ratchathewi, Bangkok, 10400, Thailand
| | - Lalida Arsa
- Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Narumol Trachu
- Ramathibodi Research Center, Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Chuleeporn Jiarpinitnun
- Division of Radiation Oncology, Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Poompis Pattaranutaporn
- Division of Radiation Oncology, Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Ekaphop Sirachainan
- Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, 270 Rama VI Road, Ratchathewi, Bangkok, 10400, Thailand
| | - Noppadol Larbcharoensub
- Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
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Checkpoint cluster: biomarkers of response. Emerg Top Life Sci 2017; 1:501-508. [PMID: 33525795 DOI: 10.1042/etls20170077] [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: 10/02/2017] [Revised: 10/18/2017] [Accepted: 10/20/2017] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Current clinical knowledge surrounding one of the most promising immune checkpoint pathways, namely programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) and its ligands PD-L1 and PD-L2, is reviewed in the context of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. The results of two phase III clinical trials (KEYNOTE 040 and CheckMate 141) are critically examined. The utility of predictive biomarkers of response to immune checkpoint blockade, such as PD-L1/PD-L2 protein expression, interferon-gamma gene expression signatures, and mutational and neoantigen load, is discussed. Finally, we project future directions in the immuno-oncology field by discussing other promising predictive biomarkers as well as areas where the next advances are likely to take place, such as in the implementation of immune checkpoint inhibitors earlier in the course of cancer treatment and/or in combination therapies.
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