Cancer Biology Program, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee.
Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee.
Cancer Discov. 2024 Feb 8;14(2):290-307. doi: 10.1158/2159-8290.CD-23-0519.
UNLABELLED: Despite the success of immune checkpoint inhibition (ICI) in treating cancer, patients with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) often develop resistance to therapy, and the underlying mechanisms are unclear. MHC-I expression is essential for antigen presentation and T-cell-directed immunotherapy responses. This study demonstrates that TNBC patients display intratumor heterogeneity in regional MHC-I expression. In murine models, loss of MHC-I negates antitumor immunity and ICI response, whereas intratumor MHC-I heterogeneity leads to increased infiltration of natural killer (NK) cells in an IFNγ-dependent manner. Using spatial technologies, MHC-I heterogeneity is associated with clinical resistance to anti-programmed death (PD) L1 therapy and increased NK:T-cell ratios in human breast tumors. MHC-I heterogeneous tumors require NKG2A to suppress NK-cell function. Combining anti-NKG2A and anti-PD-L1 therapies restores complete response in heterogeneous MHC-I murine models, dependent on the presence of activated, tumor-infiltrating NK and CD8+ T cells. These results suggest that similar strategies may enhance patient benefit in clinical trials. SIGNIFICANCE: Clinical resistance to immunotherapy is common in breast cancer, and many patients will likely require combination therapy to maximize immunotherapeutic benefit. This study demonstrates that heterogeneous MHC-I expression drives resistance to anti-PD-L1 therapy and exposes NKG2A on NK cells as a target to overcome resistance. This article is featured in Selected Articles from This Issue, p. 201.
未加标签:尽管免疫检查点抑制 (ICI) 在治疗癌症方面取得了成功,但三阴性乳腺癌 (TNBC) 患者常常对治疗产生耐药性,其潜在机制尚不清楚。MHC-I 的表达对于抗原呈递和 T 细胞导向的免疫治疗反应至关重要。本研究表明,TNBC 患者的肿瘤内存在区域 MHC-I 表达异质性。在小鼠模型中,MHC-I 的缺失否定了抗肿瘤免疫和 ICI 反应,而肿瘤内 MHC-I 异质性导致 NK 细胞以 IFNγ 依赖的方式浸润增加。利用空间技术,MHC-I 异质性与人类乳腺肿瘤对抗程序性死亡 (PD) L1 治疗的临床耐药性以及 NK:T 细胞比值增加相关。MHC-I 异质性肿瘤需要 NKG2A 来抑制 NK 细胞功能。在 MHC-I 异质性小鼠模型中,联合使用抗 NKG2A 和抗 PD-L1 治疗可恢复完全缓解,这依赖于存在激活的、浸润肿瘤的 NK 和 CD8+T 细胞。这些结果表明,类似的策略可能会提高临床试验中患者的受益。
意义:乳腺癌中免疫治疗的临床耐药很常见,许多患者可能需要联合治疗以最大限度地提高免疫治疗的获益。本研究表明,MHC-I 表达异质性导致对抗 PD-L1 治疗的耐药性,并揭示了 NK 细胞上的 NKG2A 作为克服耐药性的靶点。本文选自本期特色文章,第 201 页。
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