scholarly journals Clinicopathological and Immunomicroenvironment Characteristics of Epstein–Barr Virus-Associated Gastric Cancer in a Chinese Population

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoxia Jia ◽  
Ting Guo ◽  
Zhemin Li ◽  
Meng Zhang ◽  
Yi Feng ◽  
...  

BackgroundEpstein–Barr virus-associated gastric cancer(EBVaGC)has a unique tumor immune microenvironment. We performed a comprehensive analysis of the tumor-infiltrating immune cells in a cohort of EBVaGC in a Chinese population.MethodsEpstein–Barr encoding region (EBER) in situ hybridization was performed in 1,328 consecutive cases of surgically resected GC. Densities of immune cells, including T cells, B cells, natural killer cells, and macrophages from the patients were calculated after immunohistochemical staining with CD3, CD20, CD57, and CD68 antibodies in tissue microarrays, respectively.ResultsEBVaGC patients accounted for 4.1% (55 of 1,328) cases in the overall population. The average age of patients with EBVaGC was lower than that of non-EBVaGC patients. Histologically, EBVaGC patients exhibited poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma (P = 0.004) and lower frequency of vascular invasion (P = 0.034). The density of CD3+ T lymphocytes (CD3, 23.84 ± 14.49 vs. 12.76 ± 8.93, P < 0.001) and CD68+ macrophages (CD68, 9.73 ± 5.25 vs. 5.44 ± 4.18, P < 0.001) was significantly higher in EBVaGC patients. CD3+ T cell density predicted better 5-year overall survival of EBVaGC patients (P = 0.022).ConclusionsEBVaGC patients were younger with low-differentiated adenocarcinoma and less vascular invasion. Increased infiltration of multiple immune cells affected the prognosis of patients, especially EBVaGC patients with more CD3+ T lymphocytes, who survived longer.

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tong Xie ◽  
Zhi Peng ◽  
Yiqiang Liu ◽  
Zhening Zhang ◽  
Xiaotian Zhang ◽  
...  

BackgroundEpstein–Barr virus associated gastric cancer (EBVaGC) is a special subtype of gastric cancer. However, the perioperative treatment plan and the response to chemotherapy are still uncertain.MethodsWe retrospectively enrolled patients diagnosed with EBVaGC from March 2013 to July 2020 in Beijing Cancer Hospital. Clinicopathological characteristics were recorded. Disease-free survival (DFS) were then calculated, and variants affecting DFS were tested in a Cox proportional regression model.ResultsOne hundred sixty consecutive patients were finally included in our study. Of the patients, 96.9% had adenocarcinoma, while five had squamous cell carcinoma component. Most (70.9%) of them were poorly differentiated. Prevalent programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) (69%) and minor HER-2 (3.8%) expression were noticed; all of the patients were MMR proficient (pMMR) or microsatellite stable (MSS). Among 33 patients who experienced neoadjuvant therapy, the number of tumor regression grade (TRG) 1, TRG 2, and TRG 3 was 5, 16, and 12, respectively. Patients with advanced tumor stage and T stage showed poorer response. Thirty-one patients experienced first-line chemotherapy; ORR was 33.3%, and DCR was 61.9%. One hundred forty-seven patients underwent surgery, and 27 of them showed disease recurrence; the 3-year DFS rate was 71.0%. Tumor stage, neoadjuvant chemotherapy, vascular invasion, and negative PD-L1 expression were associated with poorer DFS. Vascular invasion was the independent risk factor of DFS. Only seven patients reached OS with median follow-up time of 14 months.ConclusionEBVaGC exhibits unique clinicopathological characteristics. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy may not be suitable for EBVaGC, and EBVaGC exhibited relatively poor response to chemotherapy.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jieti Wang ◽  
Ruochen Li ◽  
Yifan Cao ◽  
Yun Gu ◽  
Hanji Fang ◽  
...  

AbstractStudies that examined an association between CD8+T and prognosis in gastric cancer are inconsistent, and a distinct population of CXCR5+CD8+T associated with better overall survival has been reported among various malignancies. Here, we show that the abundance of intratumoral CXCR5+CD8+T cells is associated with better overall survival in patients with gastric cancer. Patients with TNM II + III gastric cancer with higher intratumoral CXCR5+CD8+T cell infiltration are more likely to benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy. Microsatellite-unstable and Epstein–Barr virus positive tumors are enriched with CXCR5+CD8+T cells. Gastric cancer infiltrating CXCR5+CD8+T cells represent a specific subtype of stem-like CD8+T with effector memory feature. Identification of the clinical significance and phenotype of gastric cancer infiltrating CXCR5+CD8+T provides a roadmap for patient stratification and trials of targeted therapies.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zeyang Wang ◽  
Zhi Lv ◽  
Qian Xu ◽  
Liping Sun ◽  
Yuan Yuan

Abstract Background Epstein-Barr virus-associated gastric cancer (EBVaGC) is the most common EBV-related malignancy. A comprehensive research for the protein expression patterns in EBVaGC established by high-throughput assay remains lacking. In the present study, the protein profile in EBVaGC tissue was explored and related functional analysis was performed. Methods Epstein-Barr virus-encoded RNA (EBER) in situ hybridization (ISH) was applied to EBV detection in GC cases. Data-independent acquisition (DIA) mass spectrometry (MS) was performed for proteomics assay of EBVaGC. Functional analysis of identified proteins was conducted with bioinformatics methods. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining was employed to detect protein expression in tissue. Results The proteomics study for EBVaGC was conducted with 7 pairs of GC cases. A total of 137 differentially expressed proteins in EBV-positive GC group were identified compared with EBV-negative GC group. A PPI network was constructed for all of them, and several proteins with relatively high interaction degrees could be the hub genes in EBVaGC. Gene enrichment analysis showed they might be involved in the biological pathways related to energy and biochemical metabolism. Combined with GEO datasets, a highly associated protein (GBP5) with EBVaGC was screened out and validated with IHC staining. Further analyses demonstrated that GBP5 protein might be associated with clinicopathological parameters and EBV infection in GC. Conclusions The newly identified proteins with significant differences and potential central roles could be applied as diagnostic markers of EBVaGC. Our study would provide research clues for EBVaGC pathogenesis as well as novel targets for the molecular-targeted therapy of EBVaGC.


Author(s):  
Ronan J. Kelly

PD-L1 upregulation occurs in approximately 40% of gastroesophageal cancers. However, unlike other solid tumors, there is minimal PD-L1 expressed on the cancer cells; rather, expression occurs predominantly on infiltrating myeloid cells. Preliminary clinical data involving single-agent PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors in metastatic gastroesophageal cancer have reported response rates of 22%–27% for patients with PD-L1+ tumors and 10%–17% for unselected patients. The phase III ONO-4538-12 (ATTRACTION 2) trial has demonstrated an improved overall survival for nivolumab compared with placebo for patients with heavily pretreated gastric cancer. In the future, we will need better biomarkers to select those most likely to respond and/or identify patients who may need combination immunotherapeutics or alternate strategies. A number of subsets of gastric cancer with different immune signatures, most notably tumors positive for Epstein-Barr virus and microsatellite instability, have been identified, with approximately 50% and 94% PD-L1+ staining seen on tumor cells and immune cells in the EBV subtype and approximately 33% and 45% PD-L1+ staining seen on tumor cells and immune cells in MSI high tumors. Both subtypes demonstrate PD-L1+ immune cells with tumor-infiltrating patterns, unlike the more commonly seen PD-L1+ immune cells at the invasive margin. PD-L2 expression has been reported in 52% of esophageal adenocarcinomas but little is known about the expression of other immune checkpoints. Additional factors that suggest gastroesophageal cancers may respond to checkpoint inhibition include the high somatic mutation burden and the link with chronic inflammation. Here we provide a comprehensive review of the checkpoint inhibitor data published to date in advanced esophagogastric cancers and rationalize how the immune microenvironment in these diverse tumors can explain response or resistance to immunotherapeutics.


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