Chimote Ameet A, Lehn Maria A, Bhati Jay, Mascia Anthony E, Sertorio Mathieu, Lamba Michael A, Ionascu Dan, Tang Alice L, Langevin Scott M, Khodoun Marat V, Wise-Draper Trisha M, Conforti Laura
Division of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45267, USA.
Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45267, USA.
Cancers (Basel). 2024 Feb 29;16(5):1008. doi: 10.3390/cancers16051008.
Proton therapy (PT) is emerging as an effective and less toxic alternative to conventional X-ray-based photon therapy (XRT) for patients with advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCCs) owing to its clustered dose deposition dosimetric characteristics. For optimal efficacy, cancer therapies, including PT, must elicit a robust anti-tumor response by effector and cytotoxic immune cells in the tumor microenvironment (TME). While tumor-derived exosomes contribute to immune cell suppression in the TME, information on the effects of PT on exosomes and anti-tumor immune responses in HNSCC is not known. In this study, we generated primary HNSCC cells from tumors resected from HNSCC patients, irradiated them with 5 Gy PT or XRT, and isolated exosomes from cell culture supernatants. HNSCC cells exposed to PT produced 75% fewer exosomes than XRT- and non-irradiated HNSCC cells. This effect persisted in proton-irradiated cells for up to five days. Furthermore, we observed that exosomes from proton-irradiated cells were identical in morphology and immunosuppressive effects (suppression of IFN-γ release by peripheral blood mononuclear cells) to those of photon-irradiated cells. Our results suggest that PT limits the suppressive effect of exosomes on cancer immune surveillance by reducing the production of exosomes that can inhibit immune cell function.
由于其剂量聚集沉积剂量学特征,质子治疗(PT)正在成为晚期头颈部鳞状细胞癌(HNSCC)患者的一种有效且毒性较小的替代传统基于X射线的光子治疗(XRT)的方法。为了达到最佳疗效,包括PT在内的癌症治疗必须在肿瘤微环境(TME)中引发效应细胞和细胞毒性免疫细胞产生强大的抗肿瘤反应。虽然肿瘤来源的外泌体有助于在TME中抑制免疫细胞,但关于PT对HNSCC中外泌体和抗肿瘤免疫反应的影响尚不清楚。在本研究中,我们从HNSCC患者切除的肿瘤中生成了原发性HNSCC细胞,用5 Gy的PT或XRT对其进行照射,并从细胞培养上清液中分离出外泌体。暴露于PT的HNSCC细胞产生的外泌体比XRT照射和未照射的HNSCC细胞少75%。这种效应在质子照射的细胞中持续长达五天。此外,我们观察到质子照射细胞的外泌体在形态和免疫抑制作用(抑制外周血单个核细胞释放IFN-γ)方面与光子照射细胞的外泌体相同。我们的结果表明,PT通过减少可抑制免疫细胞功能的外泌体的产生,限制了外泌体对癌症免疫监视的抑制作用。