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Stergiou IE, Palamaris K, Levidou G, Tzimou M, Papadakos SP, Mandrakis G, Masaoutis C, Rontogianni D, Theocharis S. PD-L1 Expression in Neoplastic and Immune Cells of Thymic Epithelial Tumors: Correlations with Disease Characteristics and HDAC Expression. Biomedicines 2024; 12:772. [PMID: 38672128 PMCID: PMC11048374 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines12040772] [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] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2024] [Revised: 03/26/2024] [Accepted: 03/28/2024] [Indexed: 04/28/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression in neoplastic and immune cells of the tumor microenvironment determines the efficacy of antitumor immunity, while it can be regulated at the epigenetic level by various factors, including HDACs. In this study, we aim to evaluate the expression patterns of PD-L1 in thymic epithelial tumors (TETs), while we attempt the first correlation analysis between PD-L1 and histone deacetylases (HDACs) expression. METHODS Immunohistochemistry was used to evaluate the expression of PD-L1 in tumor and immune cells of 91 TETs with SP263 and SP142 antibody clones, as well as the expressions of HDCA1, -2, -3, -4, -5, and -6. RESULTS The PD-L1 tumor proportion score (TPS) was higher, while the immune cell score (IC-score) was lower in the more aggressive TET subtypes and in more advanced Masaoka-Koga stages. A positive correlation between PD-L1 and HDAC-3, -4, and -5 cytoplasmic expression was identified. CONCLUSIONS Higher PD-L1 expression in neoplastic cells and lower PD-L1 expression in immune cells of TETs characterizes more aggressive and advanced neoplasms. Correlations between PD-L1 and HDAC expression unravel the impact of epigenetic regulation on the expression of immune checkpoint molecules in TETs, with possible future applications in combined therapeutic targeting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ioanna E. Stergiou
- Department of Pathophysiology, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece;
- First Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 10679 Athens, Greece; (K.P.); (M.T.); (S.P.P.); (G.M.); (C.M.)
| | - Kostas Palamaris
- First Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 10679 Athens, Greece; (K.P.); (M.T.); (S.P.P.); (G.M.); (C.M.)
| | - Georgia Levidou
- Second Department of Pathology, Paracelsus Medical University, 90419 Nurenberg, Germany
| | - Maria Tzimou
- First Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 10679 Athens, Greece; (K.P.); (M.T.); (S.P.P.); (G.M.); (C.M.)
| | - Stavros P. Papadakos
- First Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 10679 Athens, Greece; (K.P.); (M.T.); (S.P.P.); (G.M.); (C.M.)
| | - Georgios Mandrakis
- First Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 10679 Athens, Greece; (K.P.); (M.T.); (S.P.P.); (G.M.); (C.M.)
| | - Christos Masaoutis
- First Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 10679 Athens, Greece; (K.P.); (M.T.); (S.P.P.); (G.M.); (C.M.)
| | - Dimitra Rontogianni
- Department of Pathology, Evangelismos General Hospital of Athens, 10676 Athens, Greece;
| | - Stamatios Theocharis
- First Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 10679 Athens, Greece; (K.P.); (M.T.); (S.P.P.); (G.M.); (C.M.)
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Masaoutis C, Palamaris K, Kokkali S, Levidou G, Theocharis S. Unraveling the Immune Microenvironment of Thymic Epithelial Tumors: Implications for Autoimmunity and Treatment. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms23147864. [PMID: 35887212 PMCID: PMC9323059 DOI: 10.3390/ijms23147864] [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] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2022] [Accepted: 07/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Thymic Epithelial Tumors (TETs) represent a rare tumor family, originating from the epithelial component of the thymus gland. Clinicopathologically, they are segregated into six major subtypes, associated with distinct histological features and clinical outcomes. Their emergence and evolution are accompanied by the generation of a complex tumor microenvironment (TME), dominated by phenotypically and functionally divergent immune cellular subsets, in different maturation states and in analogies that vary significantly among different subtypes. These heterogenous leukocyte populations exert either immune-permissive and tumor-suppressive functions or vice versa, and the dynamic equilibrium established among them either dictates the tumor immune milieu towards an immune-tolerance state or enables the development of a productive spontaneous tumoricidal response. The immunologically “hot” microenvironment, defining a significant proportion of TETs, makes them a promising candidate for the implementation of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). A number of phase I and II clinical trials have already demonstrated significant, type-specific clinical efficacy of PD-L1 inhibitors, even though substantial limitations in their utilization derive from their immune-mediated adverse effects. Moreover, the completed clinical studies involved relatively restricted patient samples and an expansion in the enrolled cohorts is required, so that more trustworthy conclusions regarding the benefit from ICIs in TETs can be extracted.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christos Masaoutis
- First Department of Pathology, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 75, M. Asias Str., Bld 10, Goudi, GR11527 Athens, Greece; (C.M.); (K.P.); (G.L.)
| | - Kostas Palamaris
- First Department of Pathology, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 75, M. Asias Str., Bld 10, Goudi, GR11527 Athens, Greece; (C.M.); (K.P.); (G.L.)
| | - Stefania Kokkali
- Oncology Unit, 2nd Department of Medicine, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Hippocratio General Hospital of Athens, 114, V. Sofias Str., GR11527 Athens, Greece;
| | - Georgia Levidou
- First Department of Pathology, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 75, M. Asias Str., Bld 10, Goudi, GR11527 Athens, Greece; (C.M.); (K.P.); (G.L.)
- Second Department of Pathology, Paracelsus Medical University, 90419 Nurenberg, Germany
| | - Stamatios Theocharis
- First Department of Pathology, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 75, M. Asias Str., Bld 10, Goudi, GR11527 Athens, Greece; (C.M.); (K.P.); (G.L.)
- Correspondence:
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Liang N, Liu L, Huang C, Liu H, Guo C, Li J, Wang W, Li N, Lin R, Wang T, Ding L, Mao L, Li S. Transcriptomic and Mutational Analysis Discovering Distinct Molecular Characteristics Among Chinese Thymic Epithelial Tumor Patients. Front Oncol 2021; 11:647512. [PMID: 34568003 PMCID: PMC8456088 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2021.647512] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [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: 12/30/2020] [Accepted: 05/24/2021] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Thymic epithelial tumors (TETs) are malignancies arising from the epithelium of the thymic gland, rare but with relatively favorable prognosis. TETs have different pathological subtypes: thymomas and thymic carcinoma, and they show different clinical characteristics regarding prognosis, pathology, and molecular profiles, etc. Although some studies have investigated the pathogenesis of TETs, more molecular data is still needed to further understand the underlying mechanisms among different TETs subtypes and populations. METHODS In this study, we performed targeted gene panel sequencing and whole transcriptome sequencing on the tumor tissues from 27 Chinese TET patients, including 24 thymomas (A, AB, and B subtypes) and 3 thymic squamous cell carcinomas. We analyzed the genetic variations and differentially expressed genes among multiple TET subtypes. Moreover, we compared our data with the published The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) TET data on both the genetic and transcriptomic levels. RESULTS Compared with the TCGA TET genomic data, we found that NF1 and ATM were the most frequently mutated genes (each with a frequency of 11%, 3/27). These mutations were not mutually exclusive, since one B1 thymoma showed mutations of both genes. The GTF2I mutation was mainly enriched in subtype A and AB thymomas, consistent with the previous reports. RNA-seq results unveiled that the genes related to thymus development (FGF7, FGF10 and CLDN4) were highly expressed in certain TET subtypes, implicating that the developmental process of thymus might be linked to the tumorigenesis of these subtypes. We found high expression of CD274 (PD-L1) in B2 and B3 thymoma samples, and validated its expression using immunohistochemistry (IHC). Based on the expression profiles, we further established a machine learning model to predict the myasthenia gravis status of TET patients and achieved 90% sensitivity and 70.6% specificity in the testing cohort. CONCLUSION This study provides the first genomic and transcriptomic analysis of a Chinese TET cohort. The high expression of genes involved in thymus developmental processes suggests the potential association between tumorigenesis of TETs and dysregulation of developmental pathways. The high expression of PD-L1 in B2 and B3 thymomas support the potential application of immunotherapy on certain thymoma subtypes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Naixin Liang
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Lei Liu
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Cheng Huang
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Hongsheng Liu
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Chao Guo
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Ji Li
- Department of Pathology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Weiwei Wang
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Nan Li
- Department of R&D, Hangzhou Repugene Technology Co., Ltd., Hangzhou, China
| | - Rui Lin
- Department of R&D, Hangzhou Repugene Technology Co., Ltd., Hangzhou, China
| | - Tao Wang
- Department of R&D, Hangzhou Repugene Technology Co., Ltd., Hangzhou, China
| | - Lieming Ding
- Department of Medical, Betta Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd., Hangzhou, China
| | - Li Mao
- Department of Medical, Betta Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd., Hangzhou, China
| | - Shanqing Li
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
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Li Y, Li Y, Huang Y, Wu X, Yang Z, Wu C, Jiang L. Usefulness of 18F-FDG PET/CT in treatment-naive patients with thymic squamous cell carcinoma. Ann Nucl Med 2021; 35:1048-1057. [PMID: 34101153 DOI: 10.1007/s12149-021-01640-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [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: 04/22/2021] [Accepted: 06/07/2021] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Thymic squamous cell carcinoma (TSCC) is very rare. This study aims to investigate the clinical utility of fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (18F-FDG PET/CT) in treatment-naive patients with TSCC. METHODS The tumor metabolic parameters of 18F-FDG PET/CT, including maximum standard uptake value (SUVmax), metabolic tumor volume of primary lesion (MTV-P) and combination of primary lesion and metastases (MTV-C), and total lesion glycolysis of primary lesion (TLG-P) and combination of primary lesion and metastases (TLG-C) were collected. Age, sex, smoking, serum tumor markers, tumor size, Masaoka-Koga stage, TNM stage, contrast-enhanced CT scan, and tumor immunity were also reviewed. Moreover, progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) of these patients were analyzed. RESULTS Forty-two treatment-naive patients with TSCC were enrolled in this study. All primary tumors were FDG-avid with the average SUVmax of 10.0 ± 4.5 (range, 1.5-20.4). Higher SUVmax, MTV-C, and TLG-C were observed in advanced Masaoka-Koga stage than early stage, and higher SUVmax was found in advanced TNM stage than early stage. Next, 36 out of 42 patients performed chest contrast-enhanced CT scan, which showed SUVmax associated with the enhancement degree of CT. Moreover, 27 out of 42 lesions were assessed tumor immunity, and the detective rates of PD-L1, PD-1, CD4, CD8, and Foxp3 were 59.3%, 37.0%, 59.3%, 100%, and 77.8%, respectively. Higher SUVmax was observed in lesions with lower CD4-positive tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes. Furthermore, 12- and 24-month PFS and OS rates were 62.0% vs 32.8% and 84.5% vs 68.9%, respectively. Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that only MTV-C was an independent predictor of PFS. CONCLUSION 18F-FDG PET/CT is useful in evaluating tumor staging, assessing CT enhancement degree, and detecting tumor immunity of TSCC before treatment. 18F-FDG PET/CT could also be a promising tool to provide prognostic information for treatment-naive patients with TSCC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuan Li
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, Tongji University, 507 Zhengmin Road, Shanghai, 200433, China
| | - Yi Li
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, Tongji University, 507 Zhengmin Road, Shanghai, 200433, China
| | - Yan Huang
- Department of Pathology, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, Tongji University, 507 Zhengmin Road, Shanghai, 200433, China
| | - Xiaodong Wu
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, Tongji University, 507 Zhengmin Road, Shanghai, 200433, China
| | - Zi Yang
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, Tongji University, 507 Zhengmin Road, Shanghai, 200433, China
| | - Chunyan Wu
- Department of Pathology, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, Tongji University, 507 Zhengmin Road, Shanghai, 200433, China.
| | - Lei Jiang
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, Tongji University, 507 Zhengmin Road, Shanghai, 200433, China.
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