Intratumoral regulatory T cells from colon cancer patients comprise several activated effector populations

Background Intratumoral regulatory T cells (Treg) in colon cancer are a heterogeneous cell population, with potential impact on patient outcome. Generally, a high Treg infiltration has been correlated to a worse patient outcome, but it is still unclear how the composition of different Treg subsets affects patient relapse and survival. In this study, we used mass and flow cytometry to characterize Treg in colon tumors and corresponding unaffected tissue, followed by a correlation to clinical parameters and patient outcome. Results Using mass cytometry, we defined 13 clusters of intestinal Treg, three of which were enriched in the tumors. The two most enriched clusters were defined by their expression of the proliferation marker Ki67 and CD56, respectively. The Treg accumulating in the tumors expressed inducible T-cell co-stimulator (ICOS), OX-40, and CD39, indicating that they were effector Treg (eTreg). Intratumoral $ CD39^{+} $ Treg also had a higher expression of Foxp3, suggesting a higher suppressive activity, and we subsequently used CD39 as a marker for eTreg. Our further studies showed that colon tumors can be divided into two tumor groups, based on the proportion of $ CD39^{+} $ putative eTreg in the tumors. This property was independent of both tumor microsatellite status and tumor stage, which are important factors in predicting cancer disease progression. In a prospective study of forty-four colon cancer patients, we also showed that patients with a high CD39 expression on tumor-infiltrating Treg have a tendency towards a less favorable patient outcome in terms of cumulative cancer-specific survival. Conclusions This study uncovers novel subsets of tumor-infiltrating Treg in colon cancer, and suggests that CD39 may be a potential therapeutic target in patients with microsatellite stable colon tumors, which are usually refractory to checkpoint blockade therapy..

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2021

Erschienen:

2021

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:22

Enthalten in:

BMC immunology - 22(2021), 1 vom: 19. Aug.

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Szeponik, Louis [VerfasserIn]
Ahlmanner, Filip [VerfasserIn]
Sundström, Patrik [VerfasserIn]
Rodin, William [VerfasserIn]
Gustavsson, Bengt [VerfasserIn]
Bexe Lindskog, Elinor [VerfasserIn]
Wettergren, Yvonne [VerfasserIn]
Quiding-Järbrink, Marianne [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext [kostenfrei]

Themen:

CD39
Cancer-specific survival
Colon cancer
Regulatory T cell

Anmerkungen:

© The Author(s) 2021

doi:

10.1186/s12865-021-00449-1

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

OLC2127302303