| 1. |
- Djureinovic, Dijana, et al.
(författare)
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Detection of autoantibodies against cancer-testis antigens in non-small cell lung cancer
- 2018
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Ingår i: Lung Cancer. - : Elsevier BV. - 0169-5002 .- 1872-8332. ; 125, s. 157-163
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Cancer testis antigens (CTAs) are defined as proteins that are specifically expressed in testis or placenta and their expression is frequently activated in cancer. Due to their ability to induce an immune response, CTAs may serve as suitable targets for immunotherapy. The aim of this study was to evaluate if there is reactivity against CTAs in the plasma of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients through the detection of circulating antibodies. To comprehensively analyse auto-antibodies against CTAs the multiplexing capacities of suspension bead array technology was used. Bead arrays were created with 120 protein fragments, representing 112 CTAs. Reactivity profiles were measured in plasma samples from 133 NSCLC patients and 57 cases with benign lung diseases. Altogether reactivity against 69 antigens, representing 81 CTAs, was demonstrated in at least one of the analysed samples. Twenty-nine of the antigens (45 CTAs) demonstrated exclusive reactivity in NSCLC samples. Reactivity against CT47A genes, PAGE3, VCX, MAGEB1, LIN28B and C12orf54 were only found in NSCLC patients at a frequency of 1%-4%. The presence of autoantibodies towards these six antigens was confirmed in an independent group of 34 NSCLC patients.In conclusion, we identified autoantibodies against CTAs in the plasma of lung cancer patients. The reactivity pattern of autoantibodies was higher in cancer patients compared to the benign group, stable over time, but low in frequency of occurrence. The findings suggest that some CTAs are immunogenic and that these properties can be utilized as immune targets.
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| 2. |
- Djureinovic, Dijana
(författare)
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Transcriptomic and Proteomic Analysis of Tumor Markers in Tissue and Blood from Patients with Lung Cancer
- 2018
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Despite recent treatment advancements, the survival outcome remains poor for the majority of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The aim of this thesis was to evaluate protein expression to predict prognosis and identify biomarkers that can be used as targets for immunotherapy or for early detection of NSCLC.In Paper I an optimized immunohistochemistry (IHC)-based prognostic model was developed for NSCLC. The prognostic performance of the model was compared to the clinicopathological parameters that are used in the clinical setting to predict outcome. The protein model failed to outperform clinicopathological parameters in predicting survival outcome questioning the potential of IHC-based assessment of prognostic markers in NSCLC.In Paper II the human testis-specific proteome was profiled using RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) data from testis and 26 other organs. More than 1000 genes demonstrated a testis-enriched expression pattern which makes testis the tissue with the most tissue-specific genes. The majority of the testis-enriched genes were previously poorly described and were further profiled by IHC. This analysis provides a starting point to increase the molecular understanding of testicular biology.In Paper III the profiling of cancer-testis antigens (CTAs) was performed in NSCLC by using RNA-seq data from 32 normal organs and NSCLC. Ninety genes showed CTA expression profiles. The transcriptomic data were validated by IHC for several CTAs. The comprehensive analysis of CTAs can guide biomarker studies or help to identify targets for immunotherapeutic strategies.In Paper IV the reactivity of CTAs was evaluated by measuring the abundance of autoantibodies in plasma from patients with NSCLC and benign lung diseases. Twenty-nine CTAs demonstrated exclusive reactivity in NSCLC and six of them were reactive in an independent NSCLC cohort. These findings suggest that some CTAs are immunogenic and could be utilized in immunotherapy.In Paper V an immunoassay was used on lung adenocarcinoma plasma samples and samples from benign lung diseases. The plasma levels of 92 cancer related proteins were used to build a model that discriminated lung adenocarcinoma from benign controls with a sensitivity of 93% and a specificity of 64%. The results indicate that this assay is promising for the early detection of NSCLC.In summary, this thesis presents an integrative analysis of lung cancer tissue and blood samples to characterize NSCLC on the transcriptomic and proteomic level and to identify cancer specific proteins.
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| 3. |
- La Fleur, Linnea, et al.
(författare)
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Expression of scavenger receptor MARCO defines a targetable tumor-associated macrophage subset in non-small cell lung cancer
- 2018
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Ingår i: International Journal of Cancer. - : WILEY. - 0020-7136 .- 1097-0215. ; 143:7, s. 1741-1752
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are attractive targets for immunotherapy. Recently, studies in animal models showed that treatment with an anti-TAM antibody directed against the scavenger receptor MARCO resulted in suppression of tumor growth and metastatic dissemination. Here we investigated the expression of MARCO in relation to other macrophage markers and immune pathways in a non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cohort (n=352). MARCO, CD68, CD163, MSR1 and programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) were analyzed by immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence, and associations to other immune cells and regulatory pathways were studied in a subset of cases (n=199) with available RNA-seq data. We observed a large variation in macrophage density between cases and a strong correlation between CD68 and CD163, suggesting that the majority of TAMs present in NSCLC exhibit a protumor phenotype. Correlation to clinical data only showed a weak trend toward worse survival for patients with high macrophage infiltration. Interestingly, MARCO was expressed on a distinct subpopulation of TAMs, which tended to aggregate in close proximity to tumor cell nests. On the transcriptomic level, we found a positive association between MARCO gene expression and general immune response pathways including strong links to immunosuppressive TAMs, T-cell infiltration and immune checkpoint molecules. Indeed, a higher macrophage infiltration was seen in tumors expressing PD-L1, and macrophages residing within tumor cell nests co-expressed MARCO and PD-L1. Thus, MARCO is a potential new immune target for anti-TAM treatment in a subset of NSCLC patients, possibly in combination with available immune checkpoint inhibitors.
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| 4. |
- Mezheyeuski, Artur, et al.
(författare)
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Multispectral imaging for quantitative and compartment-specific immune infiltrates reveals distinct immune profiles that classify lung cancer patients
- 2018
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Ingår i: Journal of Pathology. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0022-3417 .- 1096-9896. ; 244:4, s. 421-431
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Semiquantitative assessment of immune markers by immunohistochemistry (IHC) has significant limitations for describing the diversity of the immune response in cancer. Therefore, we evaluated a fluorescence-based multiplexed immunohistochemical method in combination with a multispectral imaging system to quantify immune infiltrates in situ in the environment of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). A tissue microarray including 57 NSCLC cases was stained with antibodies against CD8, CD20, CD4, FOXP3, CD45RO, and pan-cytokeratin, and immune cells were quantified in epithelial and stromal compartments. The results were compared with those of conventional IHC, and related to corresponding RNA-sequencing (RNAseq) expression values. We found a strong correlation between the visual and digital quantification of lymphocytes for CD45RO (correlation coefficient: r = 0.52), FOXP3 (r = 0.87), CD4 (r = 0.79), CD20 (r = 0.81) and CD8 (r = 0.90) cells. The correlation with RNAseq data for digital quantification (0.35-0.65) was comparable to or better than that for visual quantification (0.38-0.58). Combination of the signals of the five immune markers enabled further subpopulations of lymphocytes to be identified and localized. The specific pattern of immune cell infiltration based either on the spatial distribution (distance between regulatory CD8(+) T and cancer cells) or the relationships of lymphocyte subclasses with each other (e.g. cytotoxic/regulatory cell ratio) were associated with patient prognosis. In conclusion, the fluorescence multiplexed immunohistochemical method, based on only one tissue section, provided reliable quantification and localization of immune cells in cancer tissue. The application of this technique to clinical biopsies can provide a basic characterization of immune infiltrates to guide clinical decisions in the era of immunotherapy.
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| 5. |
- Miyashita, Naoya, et al.
(författare)
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An Integrative Analysis of Transcriptome and Epigenome Features of ASCL1-Positive Lung Adenocarcinomas
- 2018
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Ingår i: Journal of Thoracic Oncology. - : ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC. - 1556-0864 .- 1556-1380. ; 13:11, s. 1676-1691
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Introduction: A subgroup of lung adenocarcinoma shows neuroendocrine differentiation and expression of achaete-scute family bHLH transcription factor 1 (ASCL1), common to high-grade neuroendocrine tumors, small-cell lung cancer and large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma. Methods: The aim of this study was to characterize clinical and molecular features of ASCL1-positive lung adenocarcinoma by using recent transcriptome profiling in multiple patient cohorts and genome-wide epigenetic profiling including data from The Cancer Genome Atlas. Results: The ASCL1-positive subtype of lung adenocarcinoma developed preferentially in current or former smokers and usually did not harbor EGFR mutations. In transcriptome profiling, this subtype overlapped with the recently proposed proximal-proliferative molecular subtype. Gene expression profiling of ASCL1-positive cases suggested generally poor immune cell infiltration and none of the tumors were positive for programmed cell death ligand 1 protein expression. Genome-wide methylation analysis showed global DNA hypomethylation in ASCL1-positive cases. ASCL1 was associated with super-enhancers in ASCL1-positive lung adenocarcinoma cells, and ASCL1 silencing suppressed other super-enhancer-associated genes, suggesting thatASCL1 acts as a master transcriptional regulator. This was further reinforced by the essential roles of ASCL1 in cell proliferation, survival, and cell cycle control. Conclusions: These results suggest that ASCL1 defines a subgroup of lung adenocarcinoma with distinct molecular features by driving super-enhancer-mediated transcriptional programs.
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