1. Immune microenvironment composition in high-grade serous ovarian cancers based on BRCA mutational status
- Author
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Nicholas B. Jennings, Bryan Fellman, Nicole D. Fleming, Wei Hu, Jared K. Burks, Jinsong Liu, Shannon N. Westin, Sara Corvigno, Yanping Zhong, and Anil K. Sood
- Subjects
Adult ,Cancer Research ,medicine.medical_specialty ,endocrine system diseases ,Article ,Germline ,Lymphocytes, Tumor-Infiltrating ,Immune system ,Stroma ,Internal medicine ,Tumor Microenvironment ,Humans ,Medicine ,Germ-Line Mutation ,Aged ,BRCA2 Protein ,Ovarian Neoplasms ,Tumor microenvironment ,Hematology ,BRCA1 Protein ,business.industry ,General Medicine ,Middle Aged ,medicine.disease ,Cystadenocarcinoma, Serous ,Serous fluid ,Oncology ,Cancer research ,Female ,business ,Ovarian cancer ,CD8 - Abstract
PURPOSE: An in-depth analysis of the tumor microenvironment of ovarian cancer is needed. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the architecture of the immune microenvironment of high-grade serous ovarian cancers (HGSCs) with and without BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations. METHODS: A cohort of highly annotated HGSC patients with known germline BRCA1 and BRCA2 status was selected, and pretreatment tumor tissue specimens were analyzed with a multiplexed staining technique aimed at detecting lymphocytes, macrophages, and fibroblasts in the whole tumor area and in specific regions including epithelium, stroma, and perivascular areas. RESULTS: BRCA1- or BRCA2-mutated tumors showed a more immunogenic microenvironment, characterized by a higher abundance of CD8(+) and PD-L1(+) cells, than did tumors with wild-type BRCA1 and BRCA2. High numbers of PD-L1(+) and PD-L1(+)CD8(+) cells were prognostic for event-free survival (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.41, 95% CI: 0.21–0.79, p = 0.008 and HR: 0.49, 95% CI: 0.26–0.91, p = 0.025, respectively), as were high numbers of epithelial PD-L1(+) and FAP(+)PD-L1(+) cells (HR: 0.52, 95% CI: 0.28–0.96, p = 0.037 and HR: 0.27, 95% CI: 0.08–0.87, p = 0.029) and CD8(+) cells (HR: 0.51, 95% CI: 0.28–0.93, p = 0.027). CONCLUSIONS: This study reveals substantial differences between the immune microenvironment composition of germline BRCA-mutated and BRCA wild-type HGSC.
- Published
- 2021