Location matters: spatial dynamics of tumor-infiltrating T cell subsets is prognostic in colon cancer.

Background

Colon cancer is a heterogeneous disease and consists of various molecular subtypes. Despite advances in high-throughput expression profiling, limitations remain in predicting clinical outcome and assigning specific treatment to individual cases. Tumor-immune interactions play a critical role, with tumors that activate the immune system having better outcome for the patient. The localization of T cells within tumor epithelium, to enable direct contact, is essential for antitumor function, but bulk DNA/RNA sequencing data lacks spatial distribution information. In this study, we provide spatial T cell tumor distribution and connect these data with previously determined genomic data in the AC-ICAM colon cancer patient cohort.

Methods

Colon cancer patients (n=90) with transcriptome data available were selected. We used a custom multiplex immunofluorescence assay on colon tumor tissue sections for quantifying T cell subsets spatial distribution in the tumor microenvironment, in terms of cell number, location, mutual distance, and distance to tumor cells. Statistical analyses included the previously determined Immunologic Constant of Rejection (ICR) transcriptome correlation and patient survival, revealing potential prognostic value in T cell spatial distribution.

Results

T cell phenotypes were characterized and CD3

Conclusion

Our study's in-depth analysis of the spatial distribution and densities of major T cell subtypes within the tumor microenvironment has provided valuable information that paves the way for further research into the intricate relationships between immune cells and colon cancer development.

Informations de copyright

Copyright © 2024 Zhu, Roelands, Ahmed, Stouten, Hoorntje, van Vlierberghe, Ijsselsteijn, Lei, de Miranda, Tollenaar, Vahrmeijer, Bedognetti, Hendrickx and Kuppen.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

DB reports employment with Kite, a Gilead Company. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.