Immunogenomics of colorectal cancer response to checkpoint blockade: analysis of the KEYNOTE 177 trial and validation cohorts
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Michele Bortolomeazzi Reda Keddar Lucia Montorsi Amelia Acha Lorena Benedetti Damjan Temelkovski Subin Choi Nedyalko Petrov Katrina Todd Patty Wai Jonny Kohl Tamara Denner Emma Nye Robert Goldstone Sophie Ward Gareth Wilson Maise Al Bakir Charles Swanton Susan John James Miles Banafshe Larijani Victoria Kunene Elisa Fontana Hendrik-Tobias Arkenau Peter Parker Manuel Rodriguez-Justo Kai-Keen Shiu Jo Spencer Francesca Ciccarelli Toggle all authors (29)
Abstract
BACKGROUND & AIMS: Colorectal cancer (CRC) shows variable response to immune checkpoint blockade, which can only partially be explained by high tumour mutational burden (TMB). We conducted an integrated study of the cancer tissue and associated tumour microenvironment (TME) from patients treated with Pembrolizumab (KEYNOTE 177 clinical trial) or Nivolumab to dissect the cellular and molecular determinants of response to anti-PD1 immunotherapy. METHODS: We selected multiple regions per tumour showing variable T cell infiltration for a total of 738 regions from 29 patients, divided into discovery and validation cohorts. We performed multi-regional whole exome and RNA sequencing of the tumour cells and integrated these with T-cell receptor sequencing, high-dimensional imaging mass cytometry, detection of PD1-PDL1 interaction in situ, multiplexed immunofluorescence, and computational spatial analysis of the TME. RESULTS: In hypermutated CRCs, response to anti-PD1 immunotherapy was not associated with TMB but with high clonality of immunogenic mutations, clonally expanded T cells, low activation of WNT signalling, deregulation of the interferon gamma pathway and active immune escape mechanisms. Responsive hypermutated CRCs were also rich in cytotoxic and proliferating PD1+CD8 T cells interacting with PDL1+ antigen-presenting macrophages. CONCLUSIONS: Our study clarified the limits of TMB as a predictor of response of CRC to anti-PD1 immunotherapy. It identified a population of antigen-presenting macrophages interacting with CD8 T cells that consistently segregate with response. We therefore concluded that anti-PD1 agents release the PD1-PDL1 interaction between CD8 T cells and macrophages to promote cytotoxic anti-tumour activity.
Journal details
Journal Gastroenterology
Volume 161
Issue number 4
Pages 1179-1193
Available online
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Publisher website (DOI) 10.1053/j.gastro.2021.06.064
Europe PubMed Central 34197832
Pubmed 34197832
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