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Seliger B. Role of HLA-G in tumors and upon COVID-19 infection. Hum Immunol 2024:110792. [PMID: 38555250 DOI: 10.1016/j.humimm.2024.110792] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2023] [Revised: 03/07/2024] [Accepted: 03/25/2024] [Indexed: 04/02/2024]
Abstract
HLA-G expression of tumors and upon viral infections is involved in their immune escape leading to the evasion from both T and NK cell recognition. The underlying mechanisms of HLA-G expression in both pathophysiologic conditions are broad and range from genetic abnormalities to epigenetic, transcriptional and posttranscriptional regulation. This review summarizes the current knowledge of the frequency, regulation and clinical relevance of HLA-G expression upon neoplastic and viral transformation, its interaction with components of the microenvironment as well as its potential as diagnostic marker and/or therapeutic target. In addition, it discusses urgent topics, which have to be addressed in HLA-G research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Barbara Seliger
- Institute of Translational Immunology, Medical School "Theodor Fontane", 14770, Brandenburg an der Havel, Germany; Medical Faculty, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, 06112, Halle (Saale), Germany; Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.
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2
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Wang S, Wang J, Xia Y, Zhang L, Jiang Y, Liu M, Gao Q, Zhang C. Harnessing the potential of HLA-G in cancer therapy: advances, challenges, and prospects. J Transl Med 2024; 22:130. [PMID: 38310272 PMCID: PMC10838004 DOI: 10.1186/s12967-024-04938-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2023] [Accepted: 01/27/2024] [Indexed: 02/05/2024] Open
Abstract
Immune checkpoint blockades have been prized in circumventing and ablating the impediments posed by immunosuppressive receptors, reaching an exciting juncture to be an innovator in anticancer therapy beyond traditional therapeutics. Thus far, approved immune checkpoint blockades have principally targeted PD-1/PD-L1 and CTLA-4 with exciting success in a plethora of tumors and yet are still trapped in dilemmas of limited response rates and adverse effects. Hence, unveiling new immunotherapeutic targets has aroused immense scientific interest in the hope of expanding the clinical application of immune checkpoint blockades to scale new heights. Human leukocyte antigen-G (HLA-G), a non-classical major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecule, is enriched on various malignant cells and is involved in the hindrance of immune effector cells and the facilitation of immunosuppressive cells. HLA-G stands out as a crucial next-generation immune checkpoint showing great promise for the benefit of cancer patients. Here, we provide an overview of the current understanding of the expression pattern and immunological functions of HLA-G, as well as its interaction with well-characterized immune checkpoints. Since HLA-G can be shed from the cell surface or released by various cells as free soluble HLA-G (sHLA-G) or as part of extracellular vesicles (EVs), namely HLA-G-bearing EVs (HLA-GEV), we discuss the potential of sHLA-G and HLA-GEV as predictive biomarkers. This review also addresses the advancement of HLA-G-based therapies in preclinical and clinical settings, with a focus on their clinical application in cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Siyuan Wang
- Department of Geriatrics, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1095 Jiefang Avenue, Wuhan, 430030, China
- Key Laboratory of Vascular Aging, Ministry of Education, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1095 Jiefang Avenue, Wuhan, 430030, China
| | - Jiaxin Wang
- Department of Urology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1095 Jiefang Avenue, Wuhan, 430030, China
| | - Yu Xia
- Cancer Biology Research Center (Key Laboratory of Chinese Ministry of Education), Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1095 Jiefang Ave, Wuhan, 430030, China
- Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1095 Jiefang Avenue, Wuhan, 430030, China
| | - Le Zhang
- Department of Geriatrics, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1095 Jiefang Avenue, Wuhan, 430030, China
- Key Laboratory of Vascular Aging, Ministry of Education, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1095 Jiefang Avenue, Wuhan, 430030, China
| | - Yueqiang Jiang
- Department of Geriatrics, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1095 Jiefang Avenue, Wuhan, 430030, China
- Key Laboratory of Vascular Aging, Ministry of Education, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1095 Jiefang Avenue, Wuhan, 430030, China
| | - Man Liu
- Department of Geriatrics, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1095 Jiefang Avenue, Wuhan, 430030, China
- Key Laboratory of Vascular Aging, Ministry of Education, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1095 Jiefang Avenue, Wuhan, 430030, China
| | - Qinglei Gao
- Cancer Biology Research Center (Key Laboratory of Chinese Ministry of Education), Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1095 Jiefang Ave, Wuhan, 430030, China.
- Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1095 Jiefang Avenue, Wuhan, 430030, China.
| | - Cuntai Zhang
- Department of Geriatrics, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1095 Jiefang Avenue, Wuhan, 430030, China.
- Key Laboratory of Vascular Aging, Ministry of Education, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1095 Jiefang Avenue, Wuhan, 430030, China.
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Loizides S, Constantinidou A. Triple negative breast cancer: Immunogenicity, tumor microenvironment, and immunotherapy. Front Genet 2023; 13:1095839. [PMID: 36712858 PMCID: PMC9879323 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2022.1095839] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2022] [Accepted: 12/30/2022] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a biologically diverse subtype of breast cancer characterized by genomic and transcriptional heterogeneity and exhibiting aggressive clinical behaviour and poor prognosis. In recent years, emphasis has been placed on the identification of mechanisms underlying the complex genomic and biological profile of TNBC, aiming to tailor treatment strategies. High immunogenicity, specific immune activation signatures, higher expression of immunosuppressive genes and higher levels of stromal Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocytes, constitute some of the key elements of the immune driven landscape associated with TNBC. The unprecedented response of TNBC to immunotherapy has undoubtedly changed the standard of care in this disease both in the early and the metastatic setting. However, the extent of interplay between immune infiltration and mutational signatures in TNBC is yet to be fully unravelled. In the present review, we present clinical evidence on the immunogenicity and tumour microenvironment influence on TNBC progression and the current treatment paradigms in TNBC based on immunotherapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sotiris Loizides
- Medical Oncology Department, Bank of Cyprus Oncology Centre, Nicosia, Cyprus
| | - Anastasia Constantinidou
- Medical Oncology Department, Bank of Cyprus Oncology Centre, Nicosia, Cyprus,Medical School, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus,Cyprus Cancer Research Institute, Nicosia, Cyprus,*Correspondence: Anastasia Constantinidou,
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Boissière-Michot F, Chateau MC, Thézenas S, Guiu S, Bobrie A, Jacot W. Correlation of the TIGIT-PVR immune checkpoint axis with clinicopathological features in triple-negative breast cancer. Front Immunol 2022; 13:1058424. [PMID: 36544779 PMCID: PMC9760730 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.1058424] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2022] [Accepted: 11/21/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Background T cell immunoreceptor with Ig and ITIM domains (TIGIT) interacts with poliovirus receptor (PVR) to contribute to cancer immune escape. Recently, TIGIT and PVR have been identified as promising immunotherapy targets. Their gene expression is upregulated in many solid tumors, but their protein expression level is not well documented, particularly in triple negative breast cancer (TNBC), the breast cancer subtype that most benefit from immunotherapy. Methods TIGIT and PVR expression levels were assessed by immunohistochemistry in 243 surgically resected localized TNBC and then their relationship with clinical-pathological features and clinical outcome was analyzed. Results TIGIT expression was observed in immune cells from the tumor microenvironment, whereas PVR was mainly expressed by tumor cells. High TIGIT expression was significantly associated with age (p=0.010), histological grade (p=0.014), non-lobular histology (p=0.024), adjuvant chemotherapy (p=0.006), and various immune cell populations (tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), CD3+, CD8+, PD-1+ cells; all p<0.0001), PD-L1+ tumor cells (p<0.0001), and PD-L1+ stromal cells (p=0.003). Infiltration by TIGIT+ cells tended to be higher in non-molecular apocrine tumors (p=0.088). PVR was significantly associated with histological grade (p<0.0001), the basal-like (p=0.003) and non-molecular apocrine phenotypes (p=0.039), high TILs infiltration (p=0.011), CD3+ (p=0.002), CD8+ (p=0.024) T cells, and PD-L1 expression in tumor (p=0.003) and stromal cells (p=0.001). In univariate analysis, only known prognostic factors (age, tumor size, lymph node status, adjuvant chemotherapy, TILs and CD3+ T-cell infiltrate) were significantly associated with relapse-free survival (RFS) and overall survival. High TIGIT and PVR expression levels tended to be associated with longer RFS (p=0.079 and 0.045, respectively). The analysis that included only non-molecular apocrine TNBC revealed longer RFS for tumors that strongly expressed TIGIT or PVR (p=0.025 for TIGIT and 0.032 for PVR). Conclusions These results indicated that in TNBC, TIGIT+ cells can easily interact with PVR to exert their inhibitory effects. Their wide expression in TNBC and their association with other immune checkpoint components suggest the therapeutic interest of the TIGIT-PVR axis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Florence Boissière-Michot
- Translational Research Unit, Montpellier Cancer Institute Val d’Aurelle, Montpellier, France,*Correspondence: Florence Boissière-Michot,
| | - Marie-Christine Chateau
- Translational Research Unit, Montpellier Cancer Institute Val d’Aurelle, Montpellier, France
| | - Simon Thézenas
- Biometrics Unit, Montpellier Cancer Institute Val d’Aurelle, Montpellier, France
| | - Séverine Guiu
- Department of Medical Oncology, Montpellier Cancer Institute Val d’Aurelle, Montpellier, France,Institut de Recherche en Cancérologie de Montpellier (IRCM), Inserm U1194, Montpellier, France
| | - Angélique Bobrie
- Department of Medical Oncology, Montpellier Cancer Institute Val d’Aurelle, Montpellier, France,Institut de Recherche en Cancérologie de Montpellier (IRCM), Inserm U1194, Montpellier, France
| | - William Jacot
- Translational Research Unit, Montpellier Cancer Institute Val d’Aurelle, Montpellier, France,Department of Medical Oncology, Montpellier Cancer Institute Val d’Aurelle, Montpellier, France,Institut de Recherche en Cancérologie de Montpellier (IRCM), Inserm U1194, Montpellier, France,Faculty of Medicine, Montpellier University, Montpellier, France
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Pomatto-Watson LCD, Bodogai M, Carpenter M, Chowdhury D, Krishna P, Ng S, Bosompra O, Kato J, Wong S, Reyes-Sepulveda C, Bernier M, Price NL, Biragyn A, de Cabo R. Replenishment of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) overrides CR-mediated protection against tumor growth in a murine model of triple-negative breast cancer. GeroScience 2022; 44:2471-2490. [PMID: 35996062 PMCID: PMC9768076 DOI: 10.1007/s11357-022-00635-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2022] [Accepted: 07/28/2022] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Caloric restriction (CR) is the leading non-pharmacological intervention to delay induced and spontaneous tumors in pre-clinical models. These effects of CR are largely attributed to canonical inhibition of pro-growth pathways. However, our recent data suggest that CR impairs primary tumor growth and cancer progression in the murine 4T1 model of triple negative breast cancer (TNBC), at least in part, through reduced frequency of the myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC). In the present study, we sought to determine whether injection of excess MDSCs could block regression in 4T1 tumor growth and metastatic spread in BALB/cJ female mice undergoing daily CR. Our findings show that MDSC injection impeded CR-mediated protection against tumor growth without increasing lung metastatic burden. Overall, these results reveal that CR can slow cancer progression by affecting immune suppressive cells.Impact statement: Inoculation of MDSCs from donor mice effectively impedes the ability of calorie restriction to protect against primary tumor growth without impacting lung metastatic burden in recipient animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura C. D. Pomatto-Watson
- Experimental Gerontology Section, Translational Gerontology Branch, National Institute On Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD 21224 USA
| | - Monica Bodogai
- Immunoregulation Section, Laboratory of Molecular Biology and Immunology, National Institute On Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD 21224 USA
| | - Melissa Carpenter
- Experimental Gerontology Section, Translational Gerontology Branch, National Institute On Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD 21224 USA
| | - Dolly Chowdhury
- Experimental Gerontology Section, Translational Gerontology Branch, National Institute On Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD 21224 USA
| | - Priya Krishna
- Experimental Gerontology Section, Translational Gerontology Branch, National Institute On Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD 21224 USA
| | - Sandy Ng
- Experimental Gerontology Section, Translational Gerontology Branch, National Institute On Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD 21224 USA
| | - Oye Bosompra
- Experimental Gerontology Section, Translational Gerontology Branch, National Institute On Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD 21224 USA
| | - Jonathan Kato
- Experimental Gerontology Section, Translational Gerontology Branch, National Institute On Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD 21224 USA
| | - Sarah Wong
- Experimental Gerontology Section, Translational Gerontology Branch, National Institute On Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD 21224 USA
| | - Carlos Reyes-Sepulveda
- Experimental Gerontology Section, Translational Gerontology Branch, National Institute On Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD 21224 USA
| | - Michel Bernier
- Experimental Gerontology Section, Translational Gerontology Branch, National Institute On Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD 21224 USA
| | - Nathan L. Price
- Experimental Gerontology Section, Translational Gerontology Branch, National Institute On Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD 21224 USA
| | - Arya Biragyn
- Immunoregulation Section, Laboratory of Molecular Biology and Immunology, National Institute On Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD 21224 USA
| | - Rafael de Cabo
- Experimental Gerontology Section, Translational Gerontology Branch, National Institute On Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD 21224 USA
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Takahashi H, Kawahara D, Kikuchi Y. Understanding Breast Cancers through Spatial and High-Resolution Visualization Using Imaging Technologies. Cancers (Basel) 2022; 14:4080. [PMID: 36077616 PMCID: PMC9454728 DOI: 10.3390/cancers14174080] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2022] [Revised: 08/12/2022] [Accepted: 08/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Breast cancer is the most common cancer affecting women worldwide. Although many analyses and treatments have traditionally targeted the breast cancer cells themselves, recent studies have focused on investigating entire cancer tissues, including breast cancer cells. To understand the structure of breast cancer tissues, including breast cancer cells, it is necessary to investigate the three-dimensional location of the cells and/or proteins comprising the tissues and to clarify the relationship between the three-dimensional structure and malignant transformation or metastasis of breast cancers. In this review, we aim to summarize the methods for analyzing the three-dimensional structure of breast cancer tissue, paying particular attention to the recent technological advances in the combination of the tissue-clearing method and optical three-dimensional imaging. We also aimed to identify the latest methods for exploring the relationship between the three-dimensional cell arrangement in breast cancer tissues and the gene expression of each cell. Finally, we aimed to describe the three-dimensional imaging features of breast cancer tissues using noninvasive photoacoustic imaging methods.
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Abstract
Human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-G is a nonclassical MHC Class I molecule, which was initially reported as a mediator of immune tolerance when expressed in extravillous trophoblast cells at the maternal-fetal interface. HLA-G is the only known ligand of killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptor 2DL4 (KIR2DL4), an atypical family molecule that is widely expressed on the surface of NK cells. Unlike other KIR receptors, KIR2DL4 contains both an arginine–tyrosine activation motif in its transmembrane region and an immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibitory motif (ITIM) in its cytoplasmic tail, suggesting that KIR2DL4 may function as an activating or inhibitory receptor. The immunosuppressive microenvironment exemplified by a rewired cytokine network and upregulated immune checkpoint proteins is a hallmark of advanced and therapy-refractory tumors. Accumulating evidence has shown that HLA-G is an immune checkpoint molecule with specific relevance in cancer immune escape, although the role of HLA-G/KIR2DL4 in antitumor immunity is still uncharacterized. Our previous study had shown that HLA-G was a pivotal mediator of breast cancer resistance to trastuzumab, and blockade of the HLA-G/KIR2DL4 interaction can resensitize breast cancer to trastuzumab treatment. In this review, we aim to summarize and discuss the role of HLA-G/KIR2DL4 in the immune microenvironment of breast cancer. A better understanding of HLA-G is beneficial to identifying novel biomarker(s) for breast cancer, which is important for precision diagnosis and prognostic assessment. In addition, it is also necessary to unravel the mechanisms underlying HLA-G/KIR2DL4 regulation of the immune microenvironment in breast cancer, hopefully providing a rationale for combined HLA-G and immune checkpoints targeting for the effective treatment of breast cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guoxu Zheng
- State Key Laboratory of Cancer Biology, Department of Immunology, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China
| | - Lintao Jia
- State Key Laboratory of Cancer Biology, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China
| | - An-Gang Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Cancer Biology, Department of Immunology, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China
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Morandi F, Airoldi I. HLA-G and Other Immune Checkpoint Molecules as Targets for Novel Combined Immunotherapies. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:2925. [PMID: 35328349 DOI: 10.3390/ijms23062925] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2022] [Revised: 03/01/2022] [Accepted: 03/04/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
HLA-G is an HLA-class Ib molecule that is involved in the establishment of tolerance at the maternal/fetal interface during pregnancy. The expression of HLA-G is highly restricted in adults, but the de novo expression of this molecule may be observed in different hematological and solid tumors and is related to cancer progression. Indeed, tumor cells expressing high levels of HLA-G are able to suppress anti-tumor responses, thus escaping from the control of the immune system. HLA-G has been proposed as an immune checkpoint (IC) molecule due to its crucial role in tumor progression, immune escape, and metastatic spread. We here review data available in the literature in which the interaction between HLA-G and other IC molecules is reported, in particular PD-1, CTLA-4, and TIM-3, but also IDO and TIGIT. Clinical trials using monoclonal antibodies against HLA-G and other IC are currently ongoing with cancer patients where antibodies and inhibitors of PD-1 and CTLA-4 showed encouraging results. With this background, we may envisage that combined therapies using antibodies targeting HLA-G and another IC may be successful for clinical purposes. Indeed, such immunotherapeutic protocols may achieve a better rescue of effective anti-tumor immune response, thus improving the clinical outcome of patients.
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Mehdizadeh S, Bayatipoor H, Pashangzadeh S, Jafarpour R, Shojaei Z, Motallebnezhad M. Immune checkpoints and cancer development: Therapeutic implications and future directions. Pathol Res Pract 2021; 223:153485. [PMID: 34022684 DOI: 10.1016/j.prp.2021.153485] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2021] [Revised: 05/10/2021] [Accepted: 05/13/2021] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
Over the past few decades, different inhibitory receptors have been identified, which have played prominent roles in reducing anti-tumor immune responses. The role of immune checkpoint inhibitors in cancer was revealed by critical blockade of the cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen-4 (CTLA-4) and programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1) checkpoints. Immune checkpoint inhibitors, including anti-PD-1 (nivolumab and pembrolizumab), anti-PD-L1 (Atezolizumab, avelumab, and duravulumab), and anti-CTLA-4 (ipilimumab, tremelimumab), are currently FDA-approved treatment options for a broad range of cancer types. However, regarding immunotherapy advances in recent years, most studies have been focused on finding the antibodies against other inhibitory immune checkpoints in the tumor microenvironment such as lymphocyte activation gene-3 (LAG-3), T cell immunoglobulin, and mucin domain 3 (TIM-3), B7-homolog 3 (B7-H3), V-domain immunoglobulin-containing suppressor of T-cell activation (VISTA), diacylglycerol kinase-α (DGK-α), T cell immunoglobulin and ITIM domain (TIGIT), and B and T lymphocyte attenuator (BTLA). This immune checkpoint exerts differential inhibitory impacts on various types of lymphocytes. The suppression of immune responses demonstrates a surprising synergy with PD-1. Therefore, most antibodies against these immune checkpoints are undertaking clinical trials for cancer immunotherapy of advanced solid tumors and hematologic malignancies. In this review, we will summarize recent findings of immune checkpoint and the role of monoclonal antibodies in cancer immunotherapy targeting these receptors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saber Mehdizadeh
- Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; Immunology Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Hashem Bayatipoor
- Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; Immunology Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Salar Pashangzadeh
- Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; Immunology Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Roghayeh Jafarpour
- Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; Immunology Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Zeinab Shojaei
- Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; Immunology Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Morteza Motallebnezhad
- Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; Immunology Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
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Emadi E, Akhoundi F, Kalantar SM, Emadi-Baygi M. Predicting the most deleterious missense nsSNPs of the protein isoforms of the human HLA-G gene and in silico evaluation of their structural and functional consequences. BMC Genet 2020; 21:94. [PMID: 32867672 PMCID: PMC7457528 DOI: 10.1186/s12863-020-00890-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2020] [Accepted: 07/19/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The Human Leukocyte Antigen G (HLA-G) protein is an immune tolerogenic molecule with 7 isoforms. The change of expression level and some polymorphisms of the HLA-G gene are involved in various pathologies. Therefore, this study aimed to predict the most deleterious missense non-synonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms (nsSNPs) in HLA-G isoforms via in silico analyses and to examine structural and functional effects of the predicted nsSNPs on HLA-G isoforms. RESULTS Out of 301 reported SNPs in dbSNP, 35 missense SNPs in isoform 1, 35 missense SNPs in isoform 5, 8 missense SNPs in all membrane-bound HLA-G isoforms and 8 missense SNPs in all soluble HLA-G isoforms were predicted as deleterious by all eight servers (SIFT, PROVEAN, PolyPhen-2, I-Mutant 3.0, SNPs&GO, PhD-SNP, SNAP2, and MUpro). The Structural and functional effects of the predicted nsSNPs on HLA-G isoforms were determined by MutPred2 and HOPE servers, respectively. Consurf analyses showed that the majority of the predicted nsSNPs occur in conserved sites. I-TASSER and Chimera were used for modeling of the predicted nsSNPs. rs182801644 and rs771111444 were related to creating functional patterns in 5'UTR. 5 SNPs in 3'UTR of the HLA-G gene were predicted to affect the miRNA target sites. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed the HLA-G deregulation can serve as a prognostic marker for some cancers. CONCLUSIONS The implementation of in silico SNP prioritization methods provides a great framework for the recognition of functional SNPs. The results obtained from the current study would be called laboratory investigations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elaheh Emadi
- Department of Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran
| | - Fatemeh Akhoundi
- Department of Genetics, Faculty of Basic Sciences, Shahrekord University, Shahrekord, Iran
| | - Seyed Mehdi Kalantar
- Department of Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran
| | - Modjtaba Emadi-Baygi
- Department of Genetics, Faculty of Basic Sciences, Shahrekord University, Shahrekord, Iran.
- Research Institute of Biotechnology, Shahrekord University, Shahrekord, Iran.
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Abstract
OBJECTIVE The development of obesity and its metabolic complications is associated with dysregulation of various intrinsic mechanisms, which control basic metabolic processes through changes in the expression of numerous regulatory genes. METHODS The expression level of HLA-DRA, HLA-DRB1, HLA-G, HLA-F, and NFX1 genes as well as miR-190b was measured in the blood of obese adolescents without signs of resistance to insulin and with insulin resistance in comparison with the group of relative healthy control individuals without signs of obesity. RESULTS It was shown that obesity without signs of insulin resistance is associated with upregulation of the expression level of HLA-DRA and HLA-DRB1 genes, but with down-regulation of HLA-G gene expression in the blood as compared to control group of relative healthy adolescents. At the same time, no significant changes were observed in the expression level of HLA-F and NFX1 genes in the blood of this group of obese adolescents. Development of insulin resistance in obese individuals leads to significant down-regulation of HLA-DRA, HLA-DRB1, HLA-G, and HLA-F gene expressions as well as to up-regulation of NFX1 gene as well as microRNA miR-190b in the blood as compared to obese patients without signs of insulin resistance. CONCLUSIONS Results of this study provide evidence that obesity affects the expression of the subset of genes related to immune response in the blood and that development of insulin resistance in obese adolescents is associated with strong down-regulation of the expressions of HLA-DRA, HLA-DRB1, HLA-F, and HLA-G genes, which may be contribute to the development of obesity complications. It is possible that transcription factor NFX1 and miR-190b participate in downregulation of HLA-DRA gene expression in the blood of obese adolescents with insulin resistance.
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Sun Y, Luo J, Chen Y, Cui J, Lei Y, Cui Y, Jiang N, Jiang W, Chen L, Chen Y, Kuang Y, Tang K, Ke Z. Combined evaluation of the expression status of CD155 and TIGIT plays an important role in the prognosis of LUAD (lung adenocarcinoma). Int Immunopharmacol 2020; 80:106198. [PMID: 31954274 DOI: 10.1016/j.intimp.2020.106198] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2019] [Revised: 12/13/2019] [Accepted: 01/06/2020] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
The interaction between CD155 and its high-affinity ligand TIGIT is being increasingly investigated in various solid tumors. However, the prognostic significance of CD155 and TIGIT in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) remains unclear. In this study, immunohistochemistry was applied in 334 LUAD cases to evaluate the expression of CD155 and TIGIT. Western blotting was conducted in 5 paired primary LUAD and adjacent normal lung tissues. Our results reveal that CD155 and TIGIT are overexpressed in LUAD tissues and that aberrant overexpression is closely correlated with poor clinical outcomes (P < 0.01). The multivariate model also shows that CD155 expression is an independent risk factor for LUAD (RR, 1.34; P = 0.036). Moreover, patients expressing high CD155 and TIGIT simultaneously presented shorter overall survival (OS) (P < 0.01) and progression-free survival (PFS) (P < 0.01). These findings suggest that CD155 and TIGIT can make up a prognosticating tool to predict clinical outcomes, thereby contributing to personalized medical care in LUAD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu Sun
- Department of Pathology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510080, PR China
| | - Jiping Luo
- Department of Pathology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510080, PR China
| | - Yangshan Chen
- Department of Pathology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510080, PR China
| | - Ji Cui
- Gastrointestinal Surgery Center, First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510080, PR China
| | - Yiyan Lei
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510080, PR China
| | - Yongmei Cui
- Department of Pathology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510080, PR China
| | - Neng Jiang
- Department of Pathology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510080, PR China
| | - Wenting Jiang
- Department of Pathology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510080, PR China
| | - Lili Chen
- Department of Pathology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510080, PR China
| | - Yanyang Chen
- Department of Pathology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510080, PR China
| | - Yukun Kuang
- Department of Respiratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510080, PR China
| | - Kejing Tang
- Department of Respiratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510080, PR China
| | - Zunfu Ke
- Department of Pathology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510080, PR China; Institute of Precision Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510080, PR China.
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13
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Pérez-Pena J, Tibor Fekete J, Páez R, Baliu-Piqué M, García-Saenz JÁ, García-Barberán V, Manzano A, Pérez-Segura P, Esparis-Ogando A, Pandiella A, Gyorffy B, Ocana A. A Transcriptomic Immunologic Signature Predicts Favorable Outcome in Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy Treated Triple Negative Breast Tumors. Front Immunol 2019; 10:2802. [PMID: 31921107 PMCID: PMC6930158 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2019.02802] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2019] [Accepted: 11/14/2019] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Limited therapeutic options exist for the treatment of patients with triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). Neoadjuvant chemotherapy is currently the standard of care treatment in the early stages of the disease, although reliable biomarkers of response have been scarcely described. In our study we explored whether immunologic signatures associated with inflamed tumors or hot tumors could predict the outcome to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Publicly available transcriptomic data of more than 2,000 patients were evaluated. ROC plots were generated to assess the response to therapy. Cox proportional hazards regression was computed. Kaplan-Meier plots were drawn to visualize the survival differences. Higher expression of IDO1, CXCL9, CXCL10, HLA-DRA, HLA-E, STAT1, and GZMB were associated with a higher proportion without relapse in the first 5 y after chemotherapy in TNBC. The expression of these genes was associated with a high presence of CD8 T cells in responder patients using the EPIC bioinformatic tool. The strongest effect was observed for STAT1 (p = 1.8e-05 and AUC 0.69, p = 2.7e-06). The best gene-set signature to predict favorable RFS was the combination of IDO1, LAG3, STAT1, and GZMB (HR = 0.28, CI = 0.17–0.46, p = 9.8 E-08, FDR = 1%). However, no influence on pathological complete response (pCR) was observed. Similarly, no benefit was identified in any other tumor subtype: HER2 or estrogen receptor positive. In conclusion, we describe a set of immunologic genes that predict the outcome to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in TNBC, but not pCR, suggesting that this non-time to event endpoint is not a good surrogate marker to detect the long term outcome for immune activated tumors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Javier Pérez-Pena
- Experimental Therapeutics Unit, Medical Oncology Department, Hospital Clínico San Carlos (HCSC), Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria (IdISSC) and CIBERONC, Madrid, Spain
| | - Janos Tibor Fekete
- Department of Bioinformatics, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.,Department of Paediatrics, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.,TTK Lendület Cancer Biomarker Research Group, Institute of Enzymology, Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA), Budapest, Hungary
| | - Raquel Páez
- Translational Research Unit, Translational Oncology Laboratory, Albacete University Hospital, Albacete, Spain.,Centro Regional de Investigaciones Biomedicas, Castilla-La Mancha University (CRIB-UCLM), Albacete, Spain
| | - Mariona Baliu-Piqué
- Experimental Therapeutics Unit, Medical Oncology Department, Hospital Clínico San Carlos (HCSC), Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria (IdISSC) and CIBERONC, Madrid, Spain
| | - José Ángel García-Saenz
- Experimental Therapeutics Unit, Medical Oncology Department, Hospital Clínico San Carlos (HCSC), Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria (IdISSC) and CIBERONC, Madrid, Spain
| | - Vanesa García-Barberán
- Experimental Therapeutics Unit, Medical Oncology Department, Hospital Clínico San Carlos (HCSC), Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria (IdISSC) and CIBERONC, Madrid, Spain
| | - Aránzazu Manzano
- Experimental Therapeutics Unit, Medical Oncology Department, Hospital Clínico San Carlos (HCSC), Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria (IdISSC) and CIBERONC, Madrid, Spain
| | - Pedro Pérez-Segura
- Experimental Therapeutics Unit, Medical Oncology Department, Hospital Clínico San Carlos (HCSC), Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria (IdISSC) and CIBERONC, Madrid, Spain
| | - Azucena Esparis-Ogando
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular del Cáncer and CIBERONC, CSIC-Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
| | - Atanasio Pandiella
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular del Cáncer and CIBERONC, CSIC-Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
| | - Balázs Gyorffy
- Department of Bioinformatics, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.,Department of Paediatrics, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.,TTK Lendület Cancer Biomarker Research Group, Institute of Enzymology, Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA), Budapest, Hungary
| | - Alberto Ocana
- Experimental Therapeutics Unit, Medical Oncology Department, Hospital Clínico San Carlos (HCSC), Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria (IdISSC) and CIBERONC, Madrid, Spain.,Translational Research Unit, Translational Oncology Laboratory, Albacete University Hospital, Albacete, Spain.,Centro Regional de Investigaciones Biomedicas, Castilla-La Mancha University (CRIB-UCLM), Albacete, Spain
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14
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Fabbri F, Salvi S, Bravaccini S. Know your enemy: Genetics, aging, exposomic and inflammation in the war against triple negative breast cancer. Semin Cancer Biol 2019; 60:285-293. [PMID: 31669505 DOI: 10.1016/j.semcancer.2019.10.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2019] [Revised: 10/21/2019] [Accepted: 10/22/2019] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is one of the most biologically aggressive and very often lethal breast disease. It is one of the most puzzling women malignancies, and it currently appears not to be a good candidate to a standardized, unanimously accepted and sufficiently active therapeutic strategy. Fast proliferating and poorly differentiated, it is histopathologically heterogeneous, and even more ambiguous at the molecular level, offering few recurrent actionable targets to the clinicians. It is a formidable and vicious enemy that requires a huge investigational effort to find its vital weak spots. Here, we provide a broad review of "old but gold" biological aspects that taken together may help in finding new TNBC management strategies. A better and updated knowledge of the origins, war-like tactics, refueling mechanisms and escape routes of TNBC, will help in moving the decisive steps towards its final defeat.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesco Fabbri
- Istituto Scientifico Romagnolo per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori (IRST) IRCCS, Meldola, Italy
| | - Samanta Salvi
- Istituto Scientifico Romagnolo per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori (IRST) IRCCS, Meldola, Italy.
| | - Sara Bravaccini
- Istituto Scientifico Romagnolo per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori (IRST) IRCCS, Meldola, Italy
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15
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Saleh RR, Peinado P, Fuentes-Antrás J, Pérez-Segura P, Pandiella A, Amir E, Ocaña A. Prognostic Value of Lymphocyte-Activation Gene 3 (LAG3) in Cancer: A Meta-Analysis. Front Oncol 2019; 9:1040. [PMID: 31681578 PMCID: PMC6803551 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2019.01040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2019] [Accepted: 09/25/2019] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Introduction: Therapeutic targeting of inhibitors of the immune response has reached the clinical setting. Inhibitors of the novel receptor LAG3, which negatively regulates T-cell activation, are under investigation. Here we explore the presence and prognostic role of LAG3 in cancer. Methods: A systematic search of electronic databases identified publications exploring the effect of LAG3 on overall survival (OS) and (for early-stage cancers) disease-free survival (DFS). Hazard ratios (HR) were pooled in a meta-analysis using generic inverse-variance and random effect modeling. Subgroup analyses were conducted based on disease site and tumor type. Results: Fifteen studies met the inclusion criteria. LAG3 was associated with better overall survival [HR 0.81, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.66–0.99; P = 0.04], with subgroup analysis showing no significant differences between disease-site subgroups. The beneficial effect of LAG3 on OS was of greater magnitude in early-stage malignancies (HR 0.73, 95% CI 0.60–0.88) than in the metastatic setting (HR 1.20, 95% CI 0.70–2.05), but this difference was not statistically significant (subgroup difference p = 0.18). LAG3 did not have a significant association with DFS [HR 1.02, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.77–1.37; P = 0.87], with subgroup analysis showing worse DFS in patients with lymphoma and improved DFS in those with breast cancer. Conclusions: High expression of LAG3 is associated with favorable overall survival in several solid tumors. A trend toward an association in early-stage disease suggests the importance of immune surveillance in this setting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ramy R Saleh
- Division of Medical Oncology & Hematology, Department of Medicine, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Paloma Peinado
- Experimental Therapeutics Unit, Medical Oncology Department, Hospital Clínico San Carlos, and IdISSC, Madrid, Spain
| | - Jesús Fuentes-Antrás
- Experimental Therapeutics Unit, Medical Oncology Department, Hospital Clínico San Carlos, and IdISSC, Madrid, Spain
| | - Pedro Pérez-Segura
- Experimental Therapeutics Unit, Medical Oncology Department, Hospital Clínico San Carlos, and IdISSC, Madrid, Spain
| | - Atanasio Pandiella
- Centro de Investigación del Cáncer-CSIC, Salamanca, Spain.,Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red Cáncer (CIBERONC), Madrid, Spain
| | - Eitan Amir
- Division of Medical Oncology & Hematology, Department of Medicine, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Alberto Ocaña
- Experimental Therapeutics Unit, Medical Oncology Department, Hospital Clínico San Carlos, and IdISSC, Madrid, Spain.,Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red Cáncer (CIBERONC), Madrid, Spain.,Centro Regional de Investigaciones Biomédicas, Castilla-La Mancha University (UCLM), Albacete, Spain
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16
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Romero-Cordoba S, Meneghini E, Sant M, Iorio MV, Sfondrini L, Paolini B, Agresti R, Tagliabue E, Bianchi F. Decoding Immune Heterogeneity of Triple Negative Breast Cancer and Its Association with Systemic Inflammation. Cancers (Basel) 2019; 11:E911. [PMID: 31261762 DOI: 10.3390/cancers11070911] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2019] [Revised: 06/21/2019] [Accepted: 06/25/2019] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive subtype with limited therapeutic options. New opportunities are emerging from current comprehensive characterization of tumor immune infiltration and fitness. Therefore, effectiveness of current chemotherapies and novel immunotherapies are partially dictated by host inflammatory and immune profiles. However, further progress in breast cancer immuno-oncology is required to reach a detailed awareness of the immune infiltrate landscape and to determine additional reliable and easily detectable biomarkers. In this study, by analyzing gene expression profiles of 54 TNBC cases we identified three TNBC clusters displaying unique immune features. Deep molecular characterization of immune cells cytolytic-activity and tumor-inflammation status reveled variability in the local composition of the immune infiltrate in the TNBC clusters, reconciled by tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes counts. Platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), a blood systemic parameter of inflammation evaluated using pre-surgical blood test data, resulted negatively correlated with local tumoral cytolytic activity and T cell–inflamed microenvironment, whereas tumor aggressiveness score signature positively correlated with PLR values. These data highlighted that systemic inflammation parameters may represent reliable and informative markers of the local immune tumor microenvironment in TNBC patients and could be exploited to decipher tumor infiltrate properties and consequently to select the most appropriate therapies.
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17
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Chrétien S, Zerdes I, Bergh J, Matikas A, Foukakis T. Beyond PD-1/PD-L1 Inhibition: What the Future Holds for Breast Cancer Immunotherapy. Cancers (Basel) 2019; 11:E628. [PMID: 31060337 PMCID: PMC6562626 DOI: 10.3390/cancers11050628] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2019] [Revised: 05/01/2019] [Accepted: 05/02/2019] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Cancer immunotherapy has altered the management of human malignancies, improving outcomes in an expanding list of diseases. Breast cancer - presumably due to its perceived low immunogenicity - is a late addition to this list. Furthermore, most of the focus has been on the triple negative subtype because of its higher tumor mutational load and lymphocyte-enriched stroma, although emerging data show promise on the other breast cancer subtypes as well. To this point the clinical use of immunotherapy is limited to the inhibition of two immune checkpoints, Programmed Cell Death Protein 1 (PD-1) and Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated Protein 4 (CTLA-4). Consistent with the complexity of the regulation of the tumor - host interactions and their lack of reliance on a single regulatory pathway, combinatory approaches have shown improved efficacy albeit at the cost of increased toxicity. Beyond those two checkpoints though, a large number of co-stimulatory or co-inhibitory molecules play major roles on tumor evasion from immunosurveillance. These molecules likely represent future targets of immunotherapy provided that the promise shown in early data is translated into improved patient survival in randomized trials. The biological role, prognostic and predictive implications regarding breast cancer and early clinical efforts on exploiting these immune-related therapeutic targets are herein reviewed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sebastian Chrétien
- Department of Oncology - Pathology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, 171 76, Sweden.
| | - Ioannis Zerdes
- Department of Oncology - Pathology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, 171 76, Sweden.
| | - Jonas Bergh
- Department of Oncology - Pathology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, 171 76, Sweden.
| | - Alexios Matikas
- Department of Oncology - Pathology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, 171 76, Sweden.
| | - Theodoros Foukakis
- Department of Oncology - Pathology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, 171 76, Sweden.
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18
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He K, Li WX, Guan D, Gong M, Ye S, Fang Z, Huang JF, Lu A. Regulatory network reconstruction of five essential microRNAs for survival analysis in breast cancer by integrating miRNA and mRNA expression datasets. Funct Integr Genomics 2019; 19:645-58. [PMID: 30859354 DOI: 10.1007/s10142-019-00670-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2018] [Revised: 11/07/2018] [Accepted: 02/18/2019] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Although many of the genetic loci associated with breast cancer risk have been reported, there is a lack of systematic analysis of regulatory networks composed of different miRNAs and mRNAs on survival analysis in breast cancer. To reconstruct the microRNAs-genes regulatory network in breast cancer, we employed the expression data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) related to five essential miRNAs including miR-21, miR-22, miR-210, miR-221, and miR-222, and their associated functional genomics data from the GEO database. Then, we performed an integration analysis to identify the essential target factors and interactions for the next survival analysis in breast cancer. Based on the results of our integrated analysis, we have identified significant common regulatory signatures including differentially expressed genes, enriched pathways, and transcriptional regulation such as interferon regulatory factors (IRFs) and signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT1). Finally, a reconstructed regulatory network of five miRNAs and 34 target factors was established and then applied to survival analysis in breast cancer. When we used expression data for individual miRNAs, only miR-21 and miR-22 were significantly associated with a survival change. However, we identified 45 significant miRNA-gene pairs that predict overall survival in breast cancer out of 170 one-on-one interactions in our reconstructed network covering all of five miRNAs, and several essential factors such as PSMB9, HLA-C, RARRES3, UBE2L6, and NMI. In our study, we reconstructed regulatory network of five essential microRNAs for survival analysis in breast cancer by integrating miRNA and mRNA expression datasets. These results may provide new insights into regulatory network-based precision medicine for breast cancer.
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19
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da Silva IL, Montero-Montero L, Ferreira E, Quintanilla M. New Insights Into the Role of Qa-2 and HLA-G Non-classical MHC-I Complexes in Malignancy. Front Immunol 2018; 9:2894. [PMID: 30574154 PMCID: PMC6292030 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2018.02894] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2018] [Accepted: 11/26/2018] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
It is well established that the immune system can identify and destroy neoplastic transformed cells in a process known as immunosurveillance. Most studies have focused on the classical major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class Ia molecules, which are known to play an important role on the presentation of tumor antigens to the immune system in order to activate a response against tumor cells. However, a larger family of non-classical MHC class Ib-related molecules has received less attention. In this mini-review, we discuss the role of class Ib murine Qa-2 and its proposed human HLA-G homolog on immunosurveillance during embryogenesis and cancer. Whereas, both HLA-G and Qa-2 are involved in immune tolerance in pregnancy, the current evidence suggests that they play opposite roles in cancer. HLA-G appears to promote tumor progression while Qa-2 acts as a tumor suppressor awaking the immune system to reject tumor cells, as suggested by studies on different cancer cell models, such as melanoma, lymphoma, lung carcinoma, and our own results in mammary carcinoma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Istéfani L da Silva
- Center of Biological Sciences and Health, Federal University of the West of Bahia, Barreiras, Brazil
| | - Lucía Montero-Montero
- Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas Alberto Sols, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Enio Ferreira
- Laboratory of Compared Pathology, Department of General Pathology, Biological Science Institute, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | - Miguel Quintanilla
- Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas Alberto Sols, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
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20
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Abstract
It has become clearer that advanced cancer, especially advanced breast cancer, is an entirely displayed pathological system that is much more complex than previously considered. However, the direct relationship between tumour growth and immune evasion can represent a general rule governing the pathological cancer system from the initial cancer cells to when the system is entirely displayed. Accordingly, a refined pathobiological model and a novel therapeutic strategy are proposed. The novel therapeutic strategy is based on therapeutically induced conditions (undetectable tumour burden and/or a prolonged tumour ‘resting state’), which enable an efficacious immune response in advanced breast and other types of solid cancers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Nicolini
- Department of Oncology, Transplantations and New Technologies in Medicine, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | - Paola Ferrari
- Department of Oncology, Transplantations and New Technologies in Medicine, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Rossi
- Unit of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Institute of Clinical Physiology, National Council of Research, Pisa, Italy
| | - Angelo Carpi
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
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21
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Abstract
Treatment strategies for patients with advanced solid tumors have traditionally been based on three different paradigms: surgery, cytotoxics (chemotherapy or radiation therapy) and targeted therapies. Immunotherapy has emerged as a novel treatment paradigm in our armamentarium. Unfortunately, most patients still do not benefit from immunotherapy. These patients often have "cold tumors" characterized by a paucity of effector T cells in the tumor microenvironment, low mutational load, low neoantigen burden and often an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. TIGIT is an immunoreceptor inhibitory checkpoint that has been implicated in tumor immunosurveillance. Expression of TIGIT has been demonstrated in both NK cells and T cells and plays a role in their activation and maturation. TIGIT competes with immunoactivator receptor CD226 (DNAM-1) for the same set of ligands: CD155 (PVR or poliovirus receptor) and CD112 (Nectin-2 or PVRL2). TIGIT's role in tumor immunosurveillance is analogous to the PD-1/PD-L1 axis in tumor immunosuppression. Both TIGIT and PD-1 are upregulated in a variety of different cancers. Anti-TIGIT antibodies have demonstrated synergy with anti-PD-1/PD-L1 antibodies in pre-clinical models. Currently, there are multiple first-in-man phase I trials hoping to exploit this new pathway and improve response rates with existing immunotherapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin L Solomon
- Oncology Division, Department of Internal Medicine, Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah School of Medicine, 2000 Circle of Hope, Suite 2100, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, USA.
| | - Ignacio Garrido-Laguna
- Oncology Division, Department of Internal Medicine, Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah School of Medicine, 2000 Circle of Hope, Suite 2100, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, USA
- Center for Investigational Therapeutics, Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
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22
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Minchenko OH, Tsymbal DO, Minchenko DO, Prylutska SV, Hnatiuk OS, Prylutskyy YI, Tsierkezos NG, Ritter U. Single-walled carbon nanotubes affect the expression of genes associated with immune response in normal human astrocytes. Toxicol In Vitro 2018; 52:122-130. [PMID: 29906516 DOI: 10.1016/j.tiv.2018.06.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2018] [Revised: 06/02/2018] [Accepted: 06/08/2018] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
The effect of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) on the expression of a subset of immune response, apoptosis and cell proliferation -associated genes was studied in normal human astrocytes (line NHA/TS). In the cells treated with SWCNTs (2, 10 and 50 ng/ml of medium for 24 h) we observed a strong dose-dependent down-regulation of the expression of a cell surface glycoproteins HLA-DRA (major histocompatibility complex, class II, DR alpha) and HLA-DRB1. At the same time, the expression of HLA-F (major histocompatibility complex, class I, F), LMNB1 (lamin B1), and HTRA1 (high temperature requirement A1) genes as well as the level of miR-190b and miR-7 was up-regulated in NHA/TS subjected to different concentrations of SWCNTs. After 24 h of treatment with SWCNTs we detected a dose-dependent suppression of PHLDA2 (pleckstrin homology-like domain, family A, member 2) gene expression in these cells. Obtained data show that SWCNTs may affect an immune response, in particular through suppression of HLA-DRA and HLA-DRB1 gene expressions and that miR-190b and miR-7 possibly participated in this suppression. Deregulation of lamin B1 expression indicates the possibility of alterations in genome stability following treatment of astrocytes with SWCNTs. Thus, more caution is needed in biomedical application of SWCNTs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oleksandr H Minchenko
- Department of Molecular Biology, Palladin Institute of Biochemistry, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 9 Leontovycha Str, Kyiv 01601, Ukraine.
| | - Dariia O Tsymbal
- Department of Molecular Biology, Palladin Institute of Biochemistry, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 9 Leontovycha Str, Kyiv 01601, Ukraine
| | - Dmytro O Minchenko
- Department of Molecular Biology, Palladin Institute of Biochemistry, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 9 Leontovycha Str, Kyiv 01601, Ukraine; Department of Pediatrics, Bohomolets National Medical University, 13 Taras Shevchenko Blvd., Kyiv 01601, Ukraine
| | - Svitlana V Prylutska
- Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, 64 Volodymyrska Str, 01601 Kyiv, Ukraine
| | - Oksana S Hnatiuk
- Department of Molecular Biology, Palladin Institute of Biochemistry, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 9 Leontovycha Str, Kyiv 01601, Ukraine
| | - Yuriy I Prylutskyy
- Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, 64 Volodymyrska Str, 01601 Kyiv, Ukraine
| | - Nikos G Tsierkezos
- Technische Universität Ilmenau, Institut für Chemie und Biotechnik, 25 Weimarer Str., 98693 Ilmenau, Germany.
| | - Uwe Ritter
- Technische Universität Ilmenau, Institut für Chemie und Biotechnik, 25 Weimarer Str., 98693 Ilmenau, Germany
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Sui J, Miao Y, Han J, Nan H, Shen B, Zhang X, Zhang Y, Wu Y, Wu W, Liu T, Xu S, Yang S, Yin L, Pu Y, Liang G. Systematic analyses of a novel lncRNA-associated signature as the prognostic biomarker for Hepatocellular Carcinoma. Cancer Med 2018; 7:3240-3256. [PMID: 29761859 PMCID: PMC6051236 DOI: 10.1002/cam4.1541] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2018] [Revised: 04/09/2018] [Accepted: 04/15/2018] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Accumulating evidence implies that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play a crucial role in predicting survival for Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. This study aims to capture the current research hotspots of HCC, based on the analysis of publications related to HCC research from 2013 to 2017, and to identify a novel lncRNA signature for HCC prognosis through the data mining in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). “Prognosis” and “biomarker” were located in the core of the HCC research hotspot. Moreover, long noncoding RNA was the top one research frontier in HCC research. The associations between survival outcome and the expression of lncRNAs were evaluated by the univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analyses. Four lncRNAs (LINC00261, TRELM3P, GBP1P1, and CDKN2B‐AS1) were identified as significantly correlated with overall survival (OS). These four lncRNAs were gathered as a single prognostic signature. There was a significant positive correlation between HCC patients with low‐risk scores and overall survival (HR = 1.802, 95%CI [1.224‐2.652], P = .003). Further analysis suggested that the prognostic value of this four‐lncRNA signature was independent in clinical features. The enrichment analysis of prognostic lncRNA‐related gene was performed to find out the related pathways. Our study indicates that this novel lncRNA expression signature may be a useful biomarker of the prognosis for HCC patients, based on bioinformatics analysis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jing Sui
- Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine Engineering, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Southeast University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
| | - Yan Miao
- Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine Engineering, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Southeast University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
| | - Jiali Han
- Department of Epidemiology, Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health, Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN, USA
| | - Hongmei Nan
- Department of Epidemiology, Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health, Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN, USA
| | - Bo Shen
- Department of Oncology, Jiangsu Cancer Hospital, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
| | - Xiaomei Zhang
- Department of Oncology, Jiangsu Cancer Hospital, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
| | - Yan Zhang
- Department of Oncology, Jiangsu Cancer Hospital, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
| | - Yuan Wu
- Department of Oncology, Jiangsu Cancer Hospital, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
| | - Wenjuan Wu
- Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine Engineering, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Southeast University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
| | - Tong Liu
- Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine Engineering, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Southeast University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
| | - Siyi Xu
- Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine Engineering, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Southeast University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
| | - Sheng Yang
- Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine Engineering, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Southeast University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
| | - Lihong Yin
- Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine Engineering, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Southeast University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
| | - Yuepu Pu
- Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine Engineering, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Southeast University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
| | - Geyu Liang
- Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine Engineering, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Southeast University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
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24
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Abstract
The discovery and clinical application of immune-checkpoint inhibitors has dramatically improved the treatments, outcomes and therapeutic concepts in multiple tumor settings. This breakthrough was mainly based on monoclonal antibodies blocking the inhibitory molecule CTLA-4 and or the PD-1/PD-L1 axis, with the aim of counteracting major tumor immune evasion mechanisms. Even acknowledging these important successes, not all the patients benefit from these treatments. Translational and clinical research efforts are ongoing to explore the potentialities of a new generation of immune-modulatory molecules to extend current clinical applications and contrast the unsolved issues of resistance and disease relapse that still affects a considerable rate of patients. New immune-checkpoints, with either stimulatory or inhibitory functions are emerging with key roles in regulating T cell response but also affecting other crucial effectors belonging to the innate immune response (e.g., natural killer). Their therapeutic exploitation, either alone or in strategical combinations, is providing important preclinical results, holding promises currently explored in initial clinical trials. The first results point toward favorable safety profiles with selective hints of activity in challenging settings. Important issues regarding the dose, schedule and rational combinations remain open and data from the clinical studies are needed. Here we provide an overview of the main emerging stimulatory or inhibitory immune-checkpoints exploitable in cancer treatment, briefly reporting their biological function, preclinical activity and preliminary clinical data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chiara Donini
- Department of Oncology, University of Torino, Torino, Italy
| | - Lorenzo D'Ambrosio
- Department of Oncology, University of Torino, Torino, Italy.,Division of Medical Oncology, Sarcoma Unit, Candiolo Cancer Institute FPO-IRCCS, Candiolo, Torino, Italy
| | - Giovanni Grignani
- Department of Oncology, University of Torino, Torino, Italy.,Division of Medical Oncology, Sarcoma Unit, Candiolo Cancer Institute FPO-IRCCS, Candiolo, Torino, Italy
| | - Massimo Aglietta
- Department of Oncology, University of Torino, Torino, Italy.,Division of Medical Oncology, Sarcoma Unit, Candiolo Cancer Institute FPO-IRCCS, Candiolo, Torino, Italy.,Division of Medical Oncology, Experimental Cell Therapy, Candiolo Cancer Institute FPO-IRCCS, Candiolo, Torino, Italy
| | - Dario Sangiolo
- Department of Oncology, University of Torino, Torino, Italy.,Division of Medical Oncology, Experimental Cell Therapy, Candiolo Cancer Institute FPO-IRCCS, Candiolo, Torino, Italy
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Liu Z, Li M, Jiang Z, Wang X. A Comprehensive Immunologic Portrait of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer. Transl Oncol 2018; 11:311-329. [PMID: 29413765 PMCID: PMC5884188 DOI: 10.1016/j.tranon.2018.01.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 166] [Impact Index Per Article: 27.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2017] [Revised: 01/16/2018] [Accepted: 01/16/2018] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a high-risk malignancy due to its high capacity for invasion and lack of targeted therapy. Immunotherapy continues to demonstrate efficacy in a variety of cancers, and thus may be a promising strategy for TNBC given the limited therapeutic options currently available for TNBC. In this study, we performed an exhaustive analysis of immunogenic signatures in TNBC based on 2 large-scale breast cancer (BC) genomic data. We compared enrichment levels of 26 immune cell activities and pathways among TNBC, non-TNBC, and normal tissue, and within TNBCs of different genotypic or phenotypic features. We found that almost all analyzed immune activities and pathways had significantly higher enrichment levels in TNBC than non-TNBC. Elevated enrichment of these immune activities and pathways was likely to be associated with better survival prognosis in TNBC. This study demonstrated that TNBC likely exhibits the strongest immunogenicity among BC subtypes, and thus warrants the immunotherapeutic option for TNBC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhixian Liu
- Department of Basic Medicine, School of Basic Medicine and Clinical Pharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 211198, China
| | - Mengyuan Li
- School of Science, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 211198, China
| | - Zehang Jiang
- Department of Basic Medicine, School of Basic Medicine and Clinical Pharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 211198, China
| | - Xiaosheng Wang
- Department of Basic Medicine, School of Basic Medicine and Clinical Pharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 211198, China.
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26
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Abstract
The first generation of immune checkpoint inhibitors (anti-CTLA-4 and anti-PD-1/PD-L1) targeted natural immune homeostasis pathways, co-opted by cancers, to drive anti-tumor immune responses. These agents led to unprecedented results in patients with previously incurable metastatic disease and may become first-line therapies for some advanced cancers. However, these agents are efficacious in only a minority of patients. Newer strategies are becoming available that target additional immunomodulatory mechanisms to activate patients' own anti-tumor immune responses. Herein, we present a succinct summary of emerging immune targets with reported pre-clinical efficacy that have progressed to active investigation in clinical trials. These emerging targets include co-inhibitory and co-stimulatory markers of the innate and adaptive immune system. In this review, we discuss: 1) T lymphocyte markers: Lymphocyte Activation Gene 3 [LAG-3], T-cell Immunoglobulin- and Mucin-domain-containing molecule 3 [TIM-3], V-domain containing Ig Suppressor of T cell Activation [VISTA], T cell ImmunoGlobulin and ITIM domain [TIGIT], B7-H3, Inducible T-cell Co-stimulator [ICOS/ICOS-L], CD27/CD70, and Glucocorticoid-Induced TNF Receptor [GITR]; 2) macrophage markers: CD47/Signal-Regulatory Protein alpha [SIRPα] and Indoleamine-2,3-Dioxygenase [IDO]; and 3) natural killer cell markers: CD94/NKG2A and the Killer Immunoglobulin-like receptor [KIR] family. Finally, we briefly highlight combination strategies and potential biomarkers of response and resistance to these cancer immunotherapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samantha Burugu
- Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia Hospital, Koerner Pavilion, #G-227 2211 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 2B5, Canada
| | - Amanda R Dancsok
- Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia Hospital, Koerner Pavilion, #G-227 2211 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 2B5, Canada
| | - Torsten O Nielsen
- Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia Hospital, Koerner Pavilion, #G-227 2211 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 2B5, Canada.
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