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Because of the low mutational burden and consequently, fewer potential neoantigens, children with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) are thought to have a T cell-depleted or 'cold' tumor microenvironment and may have a low likelihood of response to T cell-directed immunotherapies. Understanding the composition, phenotype, and spatial organization of T cells and other microenvironmental populations in the pediatric AML bone marrow (BM) is essential for informing future immunotherapeutic trials about targetable immune-evasion mechanisms specific to pediatric AML. Here, we conducted a multidimensional analysis of the tumor immune microenvironment in pediatric AML and non-leukemic controls. We demonstrated that nearly one-third of pediatric AML cases has an immune-infiltrated BM, which is characterized by a decreased ratio of M2- to M1-like macrophages. Furthermore, we detected the presence of large T cell networks, both with and without colocalizing B cells, in the BM and dissected the cellular composition of T- and B cell-rich aggregates using spatial transcriptomics. These analyses revealed that these aggregates are hotspots of CD8 + T cells, memory B cells, plasma cells and/or plasmablasts, and M1-like macrophages. Collectively, our study provides a multidimensional characterization of the BM immune microenvironment in pediatric AML and indicates starting points for further investigations into immunomodulatory mechanisms in this devastating disease., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Because of the low mutational burden and consequently, fewer potential neoantigens, children with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) are thought to have a T cell-depleted or 'cold' tumor microenvironment and may have a low likelihood of response to T cell-directed immunotherapies. Understanding the composition, phenotype, and spatial organization of T cells and other microenvironmental populations in the pediatric AML bone marrow (BM) is essential for informing future immunotherapeutic trials about targetable immune-evasion mechanisms specific to pediatric AML. Here, we conducted a multidimensional analysis of the tumor immune microenvironment in pediatric AML and non-leukemic controls. We demonstrated that nearly one-third of pediatric AML cases has an immune-infiltrated BM, which is characterized by a decreased ratio of M2-to M1-like macrophages. Furthermore, we detected the presence of large T cell networks, both with and without colocalizing B cells, in the BM and dissected the cellular composition of T- and B cell-rich aggregates using spatial transcriptomics. These analyses revealed that these aggregates are hotspots of CD8 + T cells, memory B cells, plasma cells and/or plasmablasts, and M1-like macrophages. Collectively, our study provides a multidimensional characterization of the BM immune microenvironment in pediatric AML and indicates starting points for further investigations into immunomodulatory mechanisms in this devastating disease.

The prognosis of pediatric central nervous system (CNS) malignancies remains dismal due to limited treatment options, resulting in high mortality rates and long-term morbidities. Immunotherapies, including checkpoint inhibition, cancer vaccines, engineered T cell therapies, and oncolytic viruses, have promising results in some hematological and solid malignancies, and are being investigated in clinical trials for various high-grade CNS malignancies. However, the role of the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) in CNS malignancies is mostly unknown for pediatric cases. In order to successfully implement immunotherapies and to eventually predict which patients would benefit from such treatments, in-depth characterization of the TIME at diagnosis and throughout treatment is essential. In this review, we provide an overview of techniques for immune profiling of CNS malignancies, and detail how they can be utilized for different tissue types and studies. These techniques include immunohistochemistry and flow cytometry for quantifying and phenotyping the infiltrating immune cells, bulk and single-cell transcriptomics for describing the implicated immunological pathways, as well as functional assays. Finally, we aim to describe the potential benefits of evaluating other compartments of the immune system implicated by cancer therapies, such as cerebrospinal fluid and blood, and how such liquid biopsies are informative when designing immune monitoring studies. Understanding and uniformly evaluating the TIME and immune landscape of pediatric CNS malignancies will be essential to eventually integrate immunotherapy into clinical practice., Competing Interests: The 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., (Copyright © 2022 Rozowsky, Meesters-Ensing, Lammers, Belle, Nierkens, Kranendonk, Kester, Calkoen and van der Lugt.)

Anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG), a polyclonal antibody, is used in allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) to prevent graft-vs.-host-disease (GvHD) and graft failure (GF). Overexposure to ATG leads to poor early T-cell recovery, which is associated with viral infections and poor survival. Patients with severe inflammation are at high risk for GF and GvHD, and may have active infections warranting swift T-cell recovery. As ATG exposure may be critical in these patients, individualized dosing combined with therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) may improve outcomes. We describe the individualized dosing approach, an optimal sampling scheme, the assay to measure the active fraction of ATG, and the workflow to perform TDM. Using a previously published population pharmacokinetic (PK) model, we determine the dose to reach optimal exposures associated with low GvHD and rejection, and at the same time promote T-cell recovery. Based on an optimal sampling scheme, peak and trough samples are taken during the first 3 days of once-daily dosing. The fraction of ATG able to bind to T-cells (active ATG) is analyzed using a bio-assay in which Jurkat cells are co-cultured with patient's plasma and the binding is quantified using flow cytometry. TDM is performed based on these ATG concentrations on the third day of dosing; subsequent doses can be adjusted based on the expected area under the curve. We show that individualized ATG dosing with TDM is feasible. This approach is unique in the setting of antibody treatment and may result in better immune reconstitution post-HCT and subsequently better survival chances., Competing Interests: RA, JJB, CAL, and SN received an unrestricted research grant from Sanofi. 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., (Copyright © 2022 Meesters-Ensing, Admiraal, Ebskamp, Lacna, Boelens, Lindemans and Nierkens.)