T cell immune awakening in response to immunotherapy is age-dependent
Authors
Salih, Z.Banyard, A.
Tweedy, J.
Galvani, E.
Middlehurst, P.
Mills, S.
Weightman, J.
Gupta, A.
Lorigan, P. C.
Zhou, C.
Dhomen, N.
Valpione, S.
Marais, R.
Affiliation
Molecular Oncology Group, Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute, The University of Manchester, Alderley Park, Macclesfield, Cheshire SK10 4TG, United KingdomIssue Date
2021
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Background Precision immuno-oncology approaches are needed to improve cancer care. We recently demonstrated that in patients with metastatic melanoma, an increase of clonality or diversity of the T cell receptor (TCR) repertoire of peripheral T cells following one cycle of immunotherapy is coincident with response to immune-checkpoint blockade (ICB). We also identified a subset of peripheral CD8+ immune-effector memory T cells (TIE cells) whose expansion was associated with response to ICB and increased overall survival. To improve our understanding of peripheral T cell dynamics, we examined the clinical correlates associated with these immune signatures. Methods Fifty patients with metastatic melanoma treated with first-line anti-PD-1 ICB were included. We analysed TCR repertoire and peripheral TIE cell dynamics by age before treatment (T0) and after the first cycle of treatment at week 3 (W3). Results We observed a correlation between TIE abundance and age at T0 (r = 0.40), which reduced following treatment at W3 (r = 0.07). However, at W3, we observed two significantly opposing patterns (p = 0.03) of TCR repertoire rearrangement in patients who responded to treatment, with patients ≥70 years of age showing an increase in TCR clonality and patients <70 years of age showing an increase in TCR diversity. Conclusions We demonstrate that immunotherapy-induced immune-awakening patterns in patients with melanoma are age-related and may impact patient response to ICB, and thus have implications for biomarker development and planning of personalised therapeutic strategies.Citation
Salih Z, Banyard A, Tweedy J, Galvani E, Middlehurst P, Mills S, et al. T cell immune awakening in response to immunotherapy is age-dependent. Eur J Cancer. 2021;162:11-21.Journal
Eur J CancerDOI
10.1016/j.ejca.2021.11.015PubMed ID
34952479Additional Links
https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejca.2021.11.015Type
ArticleLanguage
enae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1016/j.ejca.2021.11.015