Heejae Lee1, Young-Ae Kim1, Youngho Kim1, Hye Seon Park1, Jeong-Han Seo1, Hyun Lee1, Gyungyub Gong2, Hee Jin Lee3. 1. Department of Pathology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, 88, Olympic-ro 43-gil, Songpa-gu, Seoul, 05505, Republic of Korea. 2. Department of Pathology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, 88, Olympic-ro 43-gil, Songpa-gu, Seoul, 05505, Republic of Korea. gygong@amc.seoul.kr. 3. Department of Pathology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, 88, Olympic-ro 43-gil, Songpa-gu, Seoul, 05505, Republic of Korea. backlila@gmail.com.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The clinical significance of adoptive tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy has been demonstrated in many clinical trials. We analyzed the in vitro reactivity of cultured TILs against autologous breast cancer cells. METHODS: TILs and cancer cells were cultured from 31 breast tumor tissues. Reactivity of TILs against cancer cells was determined by measuring secreted interferon-gamma. Expression levels of epithelial markers, major histocompatibility complex molecules, and programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) in cancer cells, and T cell markers (memory, T cell activation and exhaustion, and regulatory T cell markers) in expanded TILs were analyzed and compared between the reactive and non-reactive groups. RESULTS: In seven cases, TILs showed reactivity to autologous cancer cells. Six of these cases were associated with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). All reactive TNBCs were derived from surgical specimens after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). Higher expression of Ki67 in tumor tissues and lower expression of PD-L1 in cultured cancer cells were associated with reactivity. Proliferation of reactive TILs was high. High proportions of T cells and PD-1+CD4+ and PD1+CD8+ T cells were associated with reactivity in TNBC cases, while other activation or exhaustion markers were not. CONCLUSION: TILs from approximately half the TNBC cases with NAC showed reactivity against autologous cancer cells. The proportion of PD-1+ T cells was higher in the reactive group. Adoptive TIL therapy combined with PD-1 inhibitors might be promising for TNBC patients with residual tumors after NAC.
BACKGROUND: The clinical significance of adoptive tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy has been demonstrated in many clinical trials. We analyzed the in vitro reactivity of cultured TILs against autologous breast cancer cells. METHODS: TILs and cancer cells were cultured from 31 breast tumor tissues. Reactivity of TILs against cancer cells was determined by measuring secreted interferon-gamma. Expression levels of epithelial markers, major histocompatibility complex molecules, and programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) in cancer cells, and T cell markers (memory, T cell activation and exhaustion, and regulatory T cell markers) in expanded TILs were analyzed and compared between the reactive and non-reactive groups. RESULTS: In seven cases, TILs showed reactivity to autologous cancer cells. Six of these cases were associated with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). All reactive TNBCs were derived from surgical specimens after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). Higher expression of Ki67 in tumor tissues and lower expression of PD-L1 in cultured cancer cells were associated with reactivity. Proliferation of reactive TILs was high. High proportions of T cells and PD-1+CD4+ and PD1+CD8+ T cells were associated with reactivity in TNBC cases, while other activation or exhaustion markers were not. CONCLUSION: TILs from approximately half the TNBC cases with NAC showed reactivity against autologous cancer cells. The proportion of PD-1+ T cells was higher in the reactive group. Adoptive TIL therapy combined with PD-1 inhibitors might be promising for TNBC patients with residual tumors after NAC.
Entities:
Keywords:
Adoptive cell therapy; Breast cancer; Reactivity; Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes
Authors: Elizabeth Mazzio; Abdulaziz Almalki; Selina F Darling-Reed; Karam F A Soliman Journal: Cancer Genomics Proteomics Date: 2021 Nov-Dec Impact factor: 4.069