Chemoradiotherapy efficacy is predicted by intra-tumour CD8+/FoxP3+ double positive T cell density in locally advanced N2 non-small-cell lung carcinoma

BACKGROUND

Radiotherapy is a standard of care for locally advanced stage III N2 non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) combined with surgery/chemotherapy. Radiotherapy is hypothesised to induce tumour immunogenic cell death, to release neoantigen resulting in intra-tumoural immune infiltration and abscopal effect. Conversely, it has not been demonstrated if immune cells are necessary to drive radiotherapy efficacy and predict patient's survival.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

We retrospectively analysed tumour samples and clinical data from 113 patients, 89 resected (PORT) and 24 non-resected (DRC) N2-NSCLC treated with chemotherapy and radiotherapy (same radiotherapy department from 2002 to 2015). The immune environment was characterised with in situ multiplex staining (CD8, FoxP3, PD-L1 and cytokeratin) and correlated with clinical data and survival.

RESULTS

High density of CD8+ T cells was associated with OS (p = 0.04, HR = 1.93 [0.99-3.78]) and DFS (p = 0.003, HR = 2.42 [1.31-4.47]) in the PORT. High density of CD8+/FoxP3+ double positive cells was associated with OS (p = 0.01, HR = 1.97 [1.11-3.48]) in the whole population, with OS (p = 0.05, HR = 1.92 [0.98-3.74]) and PFS (p = 0.03, HR = 1.83 [1.03-3.23]) in the PORT without reaching significance for the DRC. Intermediate PD-L1 expression in tumour cells (TPS = 1-49%) was associated with a higher survival in the PORT.

CONCLUSIONS

Intra-tumoural CD8+ T cell and particularly CD8+/FoxP3+ double positive T cell densities predict survival in stage III N2-NSCLC suggesting the need for a pre-existing intra-tumour immunity to mediate the action of radiotherapy. Density of CD8+/FoxP3+ cells was the best predictor of patient's survival in multivariate analysis and could represent a biomarker of radiotherapy efficacy.

[Malignant pleural mesothelioma: The role of surgery]

INTRODUCTION

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a rare and highly aggressive disease, whose incidence is increasing. Asbestos is the primary causal agent.

STATE OF KNOWLEDGE

Knowledge about MPM has evolved. Thoracoscopy is essential for diagnosis of MPM. It allows performing pleural biopsies, to study the extent of the disease and to relieve dyspnea. The pathological diagnosis is also better codified with immunohistochemistry and with analysis by expert of Mesopath group. Curative surgical treatments are pleurectomy decortication and extended pneumonectomy in combination with chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy. Those heavy treatments improve survival in highly selected patients. For the other patients, supportive measures will be considered to reduce pain and dyspnea.

PROSPECT

Radical surgical treatment is only offered in therapeutic trials or multimodal treatment. Its place is not formally established. New therapies associated to surgical treatment are being studied.

CONCLUSIONS

Surgical management of MPM has to be operated in specialized teams where the survival benefit and quality of life is discussed case by case.

Dedifferentiated primary mediastinal liposarcoma mimicking a thymic tumor

Mediastinal tumors are heterogeneous and the diagnosis depends on their location in the mediastinum. The most frequent tumors are germinal tumor, lymphoma and thymoma. The clinical and radiological aspects are often not sufficient to orient the diagnosis and biopsy is necessary to confirmed it. Here, we present a rare case of an anterior mediastinal mass incidentally detected in a 63 years old man during assessment for asthma. The lesion was presumptively diagnosed as a thymic epithelial tumor based on location and radiological characteristics. Surgical biopsy revealed a primary dedifferentiated mediastinal liposarcoma with multiple lung metastases.

Late costal osteomyelitis with a cutaneous fistula after flame burns: a case report

Chest wall defects are an unusual complication of burn injury, generally seen after high-voltage electrical burns. Here we report the case of a 57-year-old man who developed costal chondritis and osteomyelitis 23 months after flame injury, which covered 50% of the total body surface area. Management included the resection of two ribs and coverage with an omental flap, overlaid by a split-thickness skin graft during the same surgical procedure. Declaration of interest: The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

Thoracic endometriosis syndrome: CT and MRI features

Thoracic endometriosis is considered to be rare, but is the most frequent form of extra-abdominopelvic endometriosis. Thoracic endometriosis syndrome affects women of reproductive age. Diagnosis is mainly based on clinical findings, which can include catamenial pneumothorax and haemothorax, non-catamenial endometriosis-related pneumothorax, catamenial haemoptysis, lung nodules, and isolated catamenial chest pain. Symptoms are typically cyclical and recurrent, with a right-sided predominance. Computed tomography (CT) is the first-line imaging method, but is poorly specific; therefore, its main role is to rule out other pulmonary diseases. However, in women with a typical clinical history, some key CT findings may help to confirm this often under-diagnosed syndrome. MRI can also assist with the diagnosis, by showing signal changes typical of haemorrhage within diaphragmatic or pleural lesions.

High expression of DNA repair pathways is associated with metastasis in melanoma patients

We have identified a gene-profile signature for human primary malignant melanoma associated with metastasis to distant sites and poor prognosis. We analyse the differential gene expression by looking at whole biological pathways rather than individual genes. Among the most significant pathways associated with progression to metastasis, we found the DNA replication (P=10(-14)) and the DNA repair pathways (P=10(-16)). We concentrated our analysis on DNA repair and found that 48 genes of this category, among a list of 234 genes, are associated with metastatic progression. These genes belong essentially to the pathways allowing recovery of stalled replication forks due to spontaneous blockage or induced DNA lesions. Because almost all these differentially expressed repair genes were overexpressed in primary tumors with bad prognosis, we speculate that primary melanoma cells that will metastasize try to replicate in a fast and error-free mode. In contrast to the progression from melanocytes to primary melanoma, genetic stability appears to be necessary for a melanoma cell to give rise to distant metastasis. This overexpression of repair genes explains nicely the extraordinary resistance of metastatic melanoma to chemo- and radio-therapy. Our results may open a new avenue for the discovery of drugs active on human metastatic melanoma.

[DNA typing: analysis of difficult cases]

DNA fingerprinting is a tool to identify individual and allows to resolve many difficult cases. Their application fields are various: paternity or maternity testing, criminal affairs (crime, identity usurpation, identity substitution...). This review relates some interesting and atypical cases.

[Point about DNA profiling: technologies, applications, and legislation]

Molecular biology progress in DNA fingerprinting has revolutionized forensic science. It's a reliable tool to identify an individual; it provides a true "genetic identity card". It's based of the concept that no two individuals can have an identical DNA pattern except identical twins. This article is a clarification on current technologies used in DNA profiling, their applications and its legislation, according a special place to the national databases (FNAEG), which is in great development for the moment.