BCG therapy downregulates HLA-I on malignant cells to subvert antitumor immune responses in bladder cancer.
J Clin Invest
; 132(12)2022 06 15.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-35503263
ABSTRACT
Patients with high-risk, nonmuscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) frequently relapse after standard intravesical bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) therapy and may have a dismal outcome. The mechanisms of resistance to such immunotherapy remain poorly understood. Here, using cancer cell lines, freshly resected human bladder tumors, and samples from cohorts of patients with bladder cancer before and after BCG therapy, we demonstrate 2 distinct patterns of immune subversion upon BCG relapse. In the first pattern, intracellular BCG infection of cancer cells induced a posttranscriptional downregulation of HLA-I membrane expression via inhibition of autophagy flux. Patients with HLA-I-deficient cancer cells following BCG therapy had a myeloid immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME) with epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) characteristics and dismal outcomes. Conversely, patients with HLA-I-proficient cancer cells after BCG therapy presented with CD8+ T cell tumor infiltrates, upregulation of inflammatory cytokines, and immune checkpoint-inhibitory molecules. The latter patients had a very favorable outcome. We surmise that HLA-I expression in bladder cancers at relapse following BCG does not result from immunoediting but rather from an immune subversion process directly induced by BCG on cancer cells, which predicts a dismal prognosis. HLA-I scoring of cancer cells by IHC staining can be easily implemented by pathologists in routine practice to stratify future treatment strategies for patients with urothelial cancer.
Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Contexto en salud:
3_ND
Problema de salud:
3_neglected_diseases
/
3_tuberculosis
/
3_zoonosis
Asunto principal:
Neoplasias de la Vejiga Urinaria
/
Mycobacterium bovis
Tipo de estudio:
Prognostic_studies
Límite:
Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J Clin Invest
Año:
2022
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Francia