Abstract 115P
Background
The breakthrough of immunotherapy has revolutionized the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). There is little information on how immune microenvironment (IME) of patients could influence the therapeutic efficacy of immunotherapy. Comprehending more about the IME in NSCLC could help to distinguish the patients who are more likely to benefit from adjuvant immunotherapy.
Methods
Tumor samples were collected from 51 NSCLC patients treated with T cell immune-checkpoint inhibitors (anti PD-1) as monotherapy or combined with chemotherapy. RNA expressions of tumor-immune-related 289 genes were analyzed. We defined the patients with complete response (CR), partial response (PR) and stable disease (SD) lasting for ≥ 24 weeks as responders, and those with progressive disease (PD) as non-responders. Differential expression genes (DEGs), immune cell types, cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) levels, IFN-γ signature, T cell markers were all compared between responders and non-responders in monotherapy and combination therapy cohort, respectively. p value was taken as 0.05.
Results
DEGs of CXCL5, CXCL8, IL1B and CCL20 were detected between responders and non-responders in monotherapy cohort (N=11, responder vs. non-responder = 6:5), while only CXCL5 was differentially expressed in combination therapy cohort (N=36, responder vs. non-responder = 29:7). More cytotoxic cells and Th1 cells were identified in responders with monotherapy. Interestingly, in combination therapy, besides dendritic cells (DC) and M1 macrophages more exhausted T cells were found in responsive patients. High CTL levels, IFN-γ signature and T cell marker scores were observed in responders with monotherapy, but no differences were presented in patients treated with combination therapy.
Conclusions
There are more differences of IME between responders and non-responders treated with immunotherapy alone by comparison to those with combined therapy. Several signatures including CTL levels, IFN-γ signature, T cell marker scores could potentially predict the effect of immune monotherapy, but not immunotherapy combined with chemotherapy.
Clinical trial identification
Editorial acknowledgement
Legal entity responsible for the study
Hao Wu.
Funding
Has not received any funding.
Disclosure
All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.