scholarly journals Intratumor Heterogeneity Correlates With Reduced Immune Activity and Worse Survival in Melanoma Patients

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhen Lin ◽  
Xianyi Meng ◽  
Jinming Wen ◽  
José María Corral ◽  
Darja Andreev ◽  
...  

BackgroundHuman malignant melanoma is a highly aggressive, heterogeneous and drug-resistant cancer. Due to a high number of clones, harboring various mutations that affect key pathways, there is an exceptional level of phenotypic variation and intratumor heterogeneity (ITH) in melanoma. This poses a significant challenge to personalized cancer medicine. Hitherto, it remains unclear to what extent the heterogeneity of melanoma affects the immune microenvironment. Herein, we explore the interaction between the tumor heterogeneity and the host immune response in a melanoma cohort utilizing The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA).MethodsClonal Heterogeneity Analysis Tool (CHAT) was used to estimate intratumor heterogeneity, and immune cell composition was estimated using CIBERSORT. The Overall Survival (OS) among groups was analyzed using Kaplan–Meier curves with the log-rank test and multivariate cox regression. RNA-seq data were evaluated to identify differentially expressed immunomodulatory genes. The reverse phase protein array (RPPA) data platform was used to validate immune responses at protein level.ResultsTumors with high heterogeneity were associated with decreased overall survival (p = 0.027). High CHAT tumors were correlated with less infiltration by anti-tumor CD8 T cells (p = 0.0049), T follicular cells (p = 0.00091), and M1 macrophages (p = 0.0028), whereas tumor-promoting M2 macrophages were increased (p = 0.02). High CHAT tumors correlated with a reduced expression of immunomodulatory genes, particularly Programmed Cell Death 1 (PD1) and its ligand PD-L1. In addition, high CHAT tumors exhibited lower immune Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs)-mediated toxicity pathway score (p = 2.9E−07) and cytotoxic pathway score (p = 2.9E−08). High CHAT tumors were also associated with a lower protein level of immune-regulatory kinases, such as lymphocyte-specific protein tyrosine kinase (LCK) (p = 3.4e−5) and spleen tyrosine kinase (SYK) (p = 0.0011).ConclusionsHighly heterogeneous melanoma tumors are associated with reduced immune cell infiltration and immune response activation as well as decreased survival. Our results reveal that intratumor heterogeneity is an indicative factor for patient survival due to its impact on anti-tumor immune response.

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. ii225-ii225
Author(s):  
Anupam Rishi ◽  
Homan Mohammadi ◽  
Daniela Martir ◽  
Eric Welsh ◽  
Timothy Robinson ◽  
...  

Abstract OBJECTIVE Tumor-associated microglia and macrophages (TAMs) influence brain tumor biology and promote tumor-proliferating phenotype. Studies have shown these cell types predict outcomes in various tumor sites with limited evidence in high-grade gliomas (HGG). In this study, we assessed the presence of immune cell infiltrate (ICI) and overall survival (OS) in HGGs. METHODS A total of 97 consecutively treated patients with primary HGG with complete gene expression profiling were identified from our IRB-approved institutional tissue biorepository. Patients underwent primary surgical resection between 02/2004 and 03/2011. Gene expression levels were assessed by Affymetrix Hu-RSTA assays (Affymetrix; Santa Clara, CA). CIBERSORT estimated the presence of ICI via gene expression deconvolution. Tumor characteristics and the presence of 22 individual ICI subtypes were assessed with respect to OS. Time-to-event analyses were performed with Kaplan-Meier estimates and compared via log-rank test. Associations between the ICI and outcomes were explored using Cox-regression. P< 0.05 (two-tailed) was considered statistically significant. RESULTS Median follow-up from primary surgical resection was 12.8 months (range: 0.1-162.8), and median age was 58 years (20-85). Most patients were male (n=63; 65%) and had grade 4 tumors (n=71; 73%). OS differed by grade with 24-month actuarial OS rates of 81% and 34% (P< 0.0001) for grade 3 and 4 gliomas, respectively. The presence of M0 (HR 2.2; 95% CI 1.4-3.6; P=0.001), M1 (HR 1.8; 95%CI 1.1-2.9; P=0.01), and M2 macrophages (HR 1.9; 95%CI 1.2-3.2; P=0.007) predicted OS. No other ICI subtypes were predictive of OS. The presence of M0- and M2-polarized macrophages were more common in grade 4 compared to grade 3 gliomas 46% vs. 11% (P=0.002) and 69% vs. 31% (P=0.0007), respectively. CONCLUSION The increased presence of non-polarized or M2 TAMs within the glioma microenvironment was significantly associated with OS in HGG. Their presence may serve as unique stratification and a potential therapeutic target.


2018 ◽  
Vol 160 (4) ◽  
pp. 658-663 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phoebe Kuo ◽  
Sina J. Torabi ◽  
Dennis Kraus ◽  
Benjamin L. Judson

Objective In advanced maxillary sinus cancers treated with surgery and radiotherapy, poor local control rates and the potential for organ preservation have prompted interest in the use of systemic therapy. Our objective was to present outcomes for induction compared to adjuvant chemotherapy in the maxillary sinus. Study Design Secondary database analysis. Setting National Cancer Database (NCDB). Subjects and Methods In total, 218 cases of squamous cell maxillary sinus cancer treated with surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy between 2004 and 2012 were identified from the NCDB and stratified into induction chemotherapy and adjuvant chemotherapy cohorts. Univariate Kaplan-Meier analyses were compared by log-rank test, and multivariate Cox regression was performed to evaluate overall survival when adjusting for other prognostic factors. Propensity score matching was also used for further comparison. Results Twenty-three patients received induction chemotherapy (10.6%) and 195 adjuvant chemotherapy (89.4%). The log-rank test comparing induction to adjuvant chemotherapy was not significant ( P = .076). In multivariate Cox regression when adjusting for age, sex, race, comorbidity, grade, insurance, and T/N stage, there was a significant mortality hazard ratio of 2.305 for adjuvant relative to induction chemotherapy (confidence interval, 1.076-4.937; P = .032). Conclusion Induction chemotherapy was associated with improved overall survival in comparison to adjuvant chemotherapy in a relatively small cohort of patients (in whom treatment choice cannot be characterized), suggesting that this question warrants further investigation in a controlled clinical trial before any recommendations are made.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yue Zhao ◽  
Xiangjun Kong ◽  
Hongbing Wang

Abstract Background: Lung cancer is one of the most common cancers, with high morbidity and mortality. MiRNAs are proved to play important roles in various human cancers. In our study, we aimed to explore the prognostic value of miR-181 in lung cancerMethods: Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (QRT-PCR) was used to detect the expression level of miR-181 in lung cancer tissues and the paired non-cancerous tissues. The relationship between miR-181 expression and clinicopathologic parameters were analyzed by chi-square test. Kaplan-Meier method with log rank test was applied for overall survival analysis. Furthermore, the Cox regression analyses were performed to evaluate the prognostic value of miR-181 in lung cancer.Results: Down-regulated miR-181 expression was observed in lung cancer tissues (P<0.001), moreover, its expression was significantly correlated with TNM stage (P=0.015) and metastasis (P=0.000). In addition, lung cancer patients with lower miR-181 expression level had poorer overall survival than those with higher expression (log rank test, P=0.011). Cox regression analysis suggested that miR-181 was an independent prognostic factor for lung cancer (HR=1.961, 95%CI=1.135-3.388, P=0.016).Conclusion: MiR-181 may be a tumor suppressor gene in lung cancer, which can predict outcomes for the patients.


2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu-Lun Hsu ◽  
Chun-Chi Lin ◽  
Jeng-Kai Jiang ◽  
Hung-Hsin Lin ◽  
Yuan-Tzu Lan ◽  
...  

Purpose: The incidence, pathogenesis, molecular pathways, and outcomes of colorectal cancer vary depending on the location of the tumor. This study aimed to compare the difference in tumor characteristics and the outcome between right-sided colon cancer and left-sided colorectal cancer (LCRC). Materials and methods: A total of 1503 patients with colorectal cancer who underwent surgery at the Taipei Veterans General Hospital between 2000 and 2010 were enrolled in this study. Right-sided colon cancer was defined as cancers in the cecum, ascending colon, and transverse colon, while LCRC was defined as cancers in the splenic flexure colon, descending colon, sigmoid colon, and rectum. The endpoint was overall survival. The mutations were detected via polymerase chain reaction and MASS array. The prognostic value was determined using the log-rank test and the Cox regression analysis. Results: A total of 407 and 1096 cases were classified as right-sided colon cancer and LCRC, respectively. Compared to patients with LCRC, those with right-sided colon cancer had more mucinous type cancer (7.4% vs. 3.5%), poorly differentiated tumor (11.5% vs. 3.6%), and advanced tumor-node-metastasis stage. The risk for peritoneal tumor seeding was higher in the right-sided colon cancer group (12.8% vs. 5.7%). Overall survival was better in LCRC than in right-sided colon cancer ( P=0.036). Conclusions: In our study, right-sided colon cancer had a more advanced tumor stage, a higher risk of peritoneal metastasis, and a poorer outcome than LCRC. Moreover, right-sided colon cancer had more gene mutations in BRAF, KRAS, SMAD4, TGF-β, PIK3CA, PTEN, AKT1, and high microsatellite instability.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hai-Ge Zhang ◽  
Ping Yang ◽  
Tao Jiang ◽  
Jian-Ying Zhang ◽  
Xue-Juan Jin ◽  
...  

Purpose. To investigate whether lymphocyte nadir induced by radiation is associated with survival and explore its underlying risk factors in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods. Total lymphocyte counts were collected from 184 HCC patients treated by radiotherapy (RT) with complete follow-up. Associations between gross tumor volumes (GTVs) and radiation-associated parameters with lymphocyte nadir were evaluated by Pearson/Spearman correlation analysis and multiple linear regression. Kaplan–Meier analysis, log-rank test, as well as univariate and multivariate Cox regression were performed to assess the relationship between lymphocyte nadir and overall survival (OS). Results. GTVs and fractions were negatively related with lymphocyte nadir (p<0.001 and p=0.001, respectively). Lymphocyte nadir and Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage were independent prognostic factors predicting OS of HCC patients (all p<0.001). Patients in the GTV ≤55.0 cc and fractions ≤16 groups were stratified by lymphocyte nadir, and the group with the higher lymphocyte counts (LCs) showed longer survival than the group with lower LCs (p<0.001 and p=0.006, respectively). Patient distribution significantly differed among the RT fraction groups according to BCLC stage (p<0.001). However, stratification of patients in the same BCLC stage by RT fractionation showed that the stereotactic body RT (SBRT) group achieved the best survival. Furthermore, there were significant differences in lymphocyte nadir among patients in the SBRT group. Conclusions. A lower lymphocyte nadir during RT was associated with worse survival among HCC patients. Smaller GTVs and fractions reduced the risk of lymphopenia.


2014 ◽  
Vol 32 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 345-345 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jesna Mathew ◽  
Sasha Slipak ◽  
Anil Kotru ◽  
Joseph Blansfield ◽  
Nicole Woll ◽  
...  

345 Background: Multiple studies exist that validate the prognostic value of the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) staging. However, none have established a survival benefit to the treatment recommendations. The aim of this study was to evaluate the adherence to the BCLC guidelines at a rural tertiary care center, and to determine the effect of following the treatment recommendations on overall survival. Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted for 97 patients newly diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) from 2000 to 2012. The treatment choice was compared with the BCLC guidelines and percentage adherence calculated. Overall survival was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method and the log rank test was used to test the difference between the two groups. Cox regression tests were used to determine independent effects of stage, treatment aggressiveness, and guideline adherence on survival. A p-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Of 97 patients, 75% (n=73) were male. Median overall survival was 12.9 months. In 59.8% (n=58) of the patients, treatment was adherent to stage specific guidelines proposed by the BCLC classification. There was no significant difference in overall survival between the adherent and non-adherent groups (11.2 vs 14.1 months, p<0.98). However on stage specific survival analysis, we noted a significant survival benefit for adherence to the guidelines for early stage HCC (27.9 vs 14.1 months, p<0.05), but a decrease in survival for adherence in the end stage (20 days vs 9.3 months, p<0.01). On univariate analysis, more aggressive treatment was associated with increased survival (hazard ratio [HR], 0.4; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.22 to 0.87; p = 0.018). Multivariate analysis revealed that adherence did not independently affect survival when stage and aggressiveness of treatment were included in the model (HR, 1.3; 95% CI, 0.76 to 2.2, p = 0.34). Conclusions: Although the BCLC guidelines serve as a practical guide to the management of patients with HCC, they are not universally practiced. These results indicate that survival of patients with hepatocellular cancer is determined by stage and aggressiveness of treatment, not adherence to BCLC guidelines.


2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (4_suppl) ◽  
pp. 586-586
Author(s):  
Jonathan M. Loree ◽  
Michael Lam ◽  
Jeffrey Morris ◽  
Michael J. Overman ◽  
Kanwal Pratap Singh Raghav ◽  
...  

586 Background: The impact of intratumor heterogeneity on prognosis in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) is unclear, however relative variant allele frequency (rVAF) of key mutations within a tumor may impact outcomes. Therefore, we sought to determine whether rVAF of RAS ( KRAS & NRAS) mutant (mt) clones impacts overall survival (OS) in mCRC patients (pts). Methods: Using a next generation sequencing panel of 201 cancer related genes, we tested 200 mCRC tumors / matched normals. Mutations, indels, and copy number variant (CNV) information were obtained. An rVAF of RAS clones was determined by dividing RAS mt VAF by the VAF of the mutated gene with the highest allele frequency. This truncal gene served as a marker of the total malignant population in a specimen. Pts were stratified at an rVAF of 50%. OS was compared with Kaplan-Meier curves, the log-rank test, and Cox regression. We assessed the impact of CNV on our findings by correcting the rVAF for CNVs in RASand truncal mutations. Results: Of 200 pts, 15% had RAS mt rVAF < 50%, 40.5% had rVAF ≥ 50%, and 44.5% were RAS wild type (WT). Age, gender, MSI status, histology, and stage at diagnosis were similar between groups. More RAS WT pts had BRAF mutations (19.1% vs 1.2% and 3.3%, P< 0.0001), left sided (78.7% vs 56.8% and 60%, P= 0.02), or poorly differentiated tumors (27.3% vs 8.6% and 13.3%, P= 0.003) compared to pts with rVAF ≥ 50% or rVAF < 50%, respectively. Mean coverage was 807x for RAS and 602x for truncal mutations. OS was better in pts with an rVAF < 50% compared to pts with rVAF ≥ 50% regardless of whether rVAF was corrected for CNV (HR 0.6; 95% CI 0.39-0.93, P =0.029) or not (HR 0.48; 95% CI 0.31-0.82, P= 0.010). mOS for pts with WT, rVAF < 50% and rVAF ≥ 50% tumors were 65.8, 55.7, and 38.6 months ( P= 0.0025). In multivariate models controlling for stage at diagnosis and BRAF mutation, pts with rVAF < 50% (HR 1.75; 95% CI 1.03-2.97, P = 0.04) and rVAF ≥ 50% (HR 2.46; 95% CI 1.66-3.65, P< 0.0001) had worse OS compared to WT pts. When rVAF was used as a continuous variable, every 1% increase in rVAF RAS mt resulted in a 1% increased hazard of death ( P <0.0001). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that clonal proportion of a tumor with a RAS mutation may impact OS and suggest the prognostic impact of RAS mutations is not an “all or none” phenomenon.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhen Tan ◽  
Yubin Lei ◽  
Bo Zhang ◽  
Si Shi ◽  
Jiang Liu ◽  
...  

BackgroundPancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most invasive solid malignancies. Immunotherapy and targeted therapy confirmed an existing certain curative effect in treating PDAC. The aim of this study was to develop an immune-related molecular marker to enhance the ability to predict Stages III and IV PDAC patients.MethodIn this study, weighted gene co-expression network (WGCNA) analysis and a deconvolution algorithm (CIBERSORT) that evaluated the cellular constituent of immune cells were used to evaluate PDAC expression data from the GEO (Gene Expression Omnibus) datasets, and identify modules related to CD4+ T cells. LASSO Cox regression analysis and Kaplan–Meier curve were applied to select and build prognostic multi-gene signature in TCGA Stages III and IV PDAC patients (N = 126). This was followed by independent Stages III and IV validation of the gene signature in the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC, N = 62) and the Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center (FUSCC, N = 42) cohort. Inherited germline mutations and tumor immunity exploration were applied to elucidate the molecular mechanisms in PDAC. Univariate and Multivariate Cox regression analyses were applied to verify the independent prognostic factors. Finally, a prognostic nomogram was created according to the TCGA-PDAC dataset.ResultsA four-gene signature comprising NAPSB, ZNF831, CXCL9 and PYHIN1 was established to predict overall survival of PDAC. This signature also robustly predicted survival in two independent validation cohorts. The four-gene signature could divide patients into high and low-risk groups with disparity overall survival verified by a Log-rank test. Expression of four genes positively correlated with immunosuppression activity (PD-L1 and PD1). Immune-related genes nomogram and corresponding calibration curves showed significant performance for predicting 3-year survival in TCGA-PDAC dataset.ConclusionWe constructed a novel four-gene signature to predict the prognosis of Stages III and IV PDAC patients by applying WGCNA and CIBERSORT algorithm scoring to transcriptome data different from traditional methods of filtrating for differential genes in cancer and healthy tissues. The findings may provide reference to predict survival and was beneficial to individualized management for advanced PDAC patients.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Longqing Li ◽  
Lianghao Zhang ◽  
Manhas Adbul Khader ◽  
Yan Zhang ◽  
Xinchang Lu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Osteosarcoma is a malignant bone tumor common in children and adolescents. Metastatic status remains the most important guideline for classifying patients and making clinical decisions. Despite many efforts, newly diagnosed patients receive the same therapy that patients have received over the last 4 decades. With the development of high-throughput sequencing technology and the rise of immunotherapy, it is necessary to deeply explore the immune molecular mechanism of osteosarcoma.Methods: We obtained RNA-seq data and clinical information of osteosarcoma patients from TCGA database and TARGET database. With the help of co-expression analysis we identified immune-related lncRNA and then by means of univariate Cox regression analysis prognostic-related lncRNA was screened out. And also by using least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression method a model based on immune-related lncRNA was constructed. The differences in overall survival, immune infiltration, immune checkpoint gene expression, and tumor microenvironmental immunity type between the two groups were evaluated.Results: We constructed a signature consisting of 13 lncRNA. Our results show that signatures can reliably predict the overall survival of patients with osteosarcoma and can bring net clinical benefits. Further more, the signatures can be used for further risk stratification of the metastasis patients. Patients in the low-risk group had higher immune cell infiltration and immune checkpoint gene expression. The results from gene set variation analysis show that patients in low-risk group are closely related to immune-related pathways when compared with patients in high-risk group. Finally, patients in the low-risk group are more likely to be classified as TMIT I and hence more likely to benefit from immunotherapy.Conclusion: Our signature may be a reliable marker for predicting the overall survival of patients with osteosarcoma.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ning Wang ◽  
Yanni Li ◽  
Yanfang Zheng ◽  
Huoming Chen ◽  
Xiaolong Wen ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Previous studies have demonstrated that microRNAs (miRNAs) played a crucial role in various diseases, including cancers. The aim of the study was to evaluate the clinical significance of miR-124 in patients with cholangiocarcinoma (CCA).Methods: The expression pattern of miR-124 was detected in CCA tissues using quantitative reserve transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The correlation of miR-124 expression with clinicopathological features and overall survival of patients were explored using chi-square test, Kaplan-Meier methods and Cox regression analyses.Results: The miR-124 expression level was strong down-regulated in CCA tissues compared with normal para-cancerous tissues (P<0.001). Moreover, aberrant miR-124 expression was significantly associated with differentiation (P=0.045) and lymph node metastasis (P=0.040). In addition, Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test revealed that patients with low miR-124 expression has a poorer overall survival compared with those with high miR-124 expression (P=0.002). Furthermore, multivariate analysis confirmed that miR-124 expression (P=0.006; HR=2.006; 95%CI: 1.224-3.289) was an independent prognostic indicator in CCA.Conclusions: Collectively, our results defined miR-124 expression plays important roles in CCA patients. MiR-124 expression might used as a valuable prognostic biomarker for patients with CCA.


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