Locus-specific proteome decoding reveals Fpt1 as a chromatin-associated negative regulator of RNA polymerase III assembly.

Transcription of tRNA genes by RNA polymerase III (RNAPIII) is tuned by signaling cascades. The emerging notion of differential tRNA gene regulation implies the existence of additional regulatory mechanisms. However, tRNA gene-specific regulators have not been described. Decoding the local chromatin proteome of a native tRNA gene in yeast revealed reprogramming of the RNAPIII transcription machinery upon nutrient perturbation. Among the dynamic proteins, we identified Fpt1, a protein of unknown function that uniquely occupied RNAPIII-regulated genes. Fpt1 binding at tRNA genes correlated with the efficiency of RNAPIII eviction upon nutrient perturbation and required the transcription factors TFIIIB and TFIIIC but not RNAPIII. In the absence of Fpt1, eviction of RNAPIII was reduced, and the shutdown of ribosome biogenesis genes was impaired upon nutrient perturbation. Our findings provide support for a chromatin-associated mechanism required for RNAPIII eviction from tRNA genes and tuning the physiological response to changing metabolic demands.

Long-term outcomes of young, node-negative, chemotherapy-naïve, triple-negative breast cancer patients according to BRCA1 status.

BACKGROUND: Due to the abundant usage of chemotherapy in young triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients, the unbiased prognostic value of BRCA1-related biomarkers in this population remains unclear. In addition, whether BRCA1-related biomarkers modify the well-established prognostic value of stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (sTILs) is unknown. This study aimed to compare the outcomes of young, node-negative, chemotherapy-naïve TNBC patients according to BRCA1 status, taking sTILs into account. METHODS: We included 485 Dutch women diagnosed with node-negative TNBC under age 40 between 1989 and 2000. During this period, these women were considered low-risk and did not receive chemotherapy. BRCA1 status, including pathogenic germline BRCA1 mutation (gBRCA1m), somatic BRCA1 mutation (sBRCA1m), and tumor BRCA1 promoter methylation (BRCA1-PM), was assessed using DNA from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue. sTILs were assessed according to the international guideline. Patients' outcomes were compared using Cox regression and competing risk models. RESULTS: Among the 399 patients with BRCA1 status, 26.3% had a gBRCA1m, 5.3% had a sBRCA1m, 36.6% had tumor BRCA1-PM, and 31.8% had BRCA1-non-altered tumors. Compared to BRCA1-non-alteration, gBRCA1m was associated with worse overall survival (OS) from the fourth year after diagnosis (adjusted HR, 2.11; 95% CI, 1.18-3.75), and this association attenuated after adjustment for second primary tumors. Every 10% sTIL increment was associated with 16% higher OS (adjusted HR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.78-0.90) in gBRCA1m, sBRCA1m, or BRCA1-non-altered patients and 31% higher OS in tumor BRCA1-PM patients. Among the 66 patients with tumor BRCA1-PM and ≥ 50% sTILs, we observed excellent 15-year OS (97.0%; 95% CI, 92.9-100%). Conversely, among the 61 patients with gBRCA1m and < 50% sTILs, we observed poor 15-year OS (50.8%; 95% CI, 39.7-65.0%). Furthermore, gBRCA1m was associated with higher (adjusted subdistribution HR, 4.04; 95% CI, 2.29-7.13) and tumor BRCA1-PM with lower (adjusted subdistribution HR, 0.42; 95% CI, 0.19-0.95) incidence of second primary tumors, compared to BRCA1-non-alteration. CONCLUSIONS: Although both gBRCA1m and tumor BRCA1-PM alter BRCA1 gene transcription, they are associated with different outcomes in young, node-negative, chemotherapy-naïve TNBC patients. By combining sTILs and BRCA1 status for risk classification, we were able to identify potential subgroups in this population to intensify and optimize adjuvant treatment.

Adjuvant capecitabine-containing chemotherapy benefit and homologous recombination deficiency in early-stage triple-negative breast cancer patients.

BACKGROUND: The addition of adjuvant capecitabine to standard chemotherapy of early-stage triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients has improved survival in a few randomised trials and in meta-analyses. However, many patients did not benefit. We evaluated the BRCA1-like DNA copy number signature, indicative of homologous recombination deficiency, as a predictive biomarker for capecitabine benefit in the TNBC subgroup of the FinXX trial. METHODS: Early-stage TNBC patients were randomised between adjuvant capecitabine-containing (TX + CEX: capecitabine-docetaxel, followed by cyclophosphamide-epirubicin-capecitabine) and conventional chemotherapy (T + CEF: docetaxel, followed by cyclophosphamide-epirubicin-fluorouracil). Tumour BRCA1-like status was determined on low-coverage, whole genome next-generation sequencing data using an established DNA comparative genomic hybridisation algorithm. RESULTS: For 129/202 (63.9%) patients the BRCA1-like status could be determined, mostly due to lack of tissue. During a median follow-up of 10.7 years, 35 recurrences and 32 deaths occurred. Addition of capecitabine appears to improve recurrence-free survival more among 61 (47.3%) patients with non-BRCA1-like tumours (HR 0.23, 95% CI 0.08-0.70) compared to 68 (52.7%) patients with BRCA1-like tumours (HR 0.66, 95% CI 0.24-1.81) (P-interaction = 0.17). CONCLUSION: Based on our data, patients with non-BRCA1-like TNBC appear to benefit from the addition of capecitabine to adjuvant chemotherapy. Patients with BRCA1-like TNBC may also benefit. Additional research is needed to define the subgroup within BRCA1-like TNBC patients who may not benefit from adjuvant capecitabine.

XenofilteR: computational deconvolution of mouse and human reads in tumor xenograft sequence data.

BACKGROUND: Mouse xenografts from (patient-derived) tumors (PDX) or tumor cell lines are widely used as models to study various biological and preclinical aspects of cancer. However, analyses of their RNA and DNA profiles are challenging, because they comprise reads not only from the grafted human cancer but also from the murine host. The reads of murine origin result in false positives in mutation analysis of DNA samples and obscure gene expression levels when sequencing RNA. However, currently available algorithms are limited and improvements in accuracy and ease of use are necessary. RESULTS: We developed the R-package XenofilteR, which separates mouse from human sequence reads based on the edit-distance between a sequence read and reference genome. To assess the accuracy of XenofilteR, we generated sequence data by in silico mixing of mouse and human DNA sequence data. These analyses revealed that XenofilteR removes > 99.9% of sequence reads of mouse origin while retaining human sequences. This allowed for mutation analysis of xenograft samples with accurate variant allele frequencies, and retrieved all non-synonymous somatic tumor mutations. CONCLUSIONS: XenofilteR accurately dissects RNA and DNA sequences from mouse and human origin, thereby outperforming currently available tools. XenofilteR is open source and available at https://github.com/PeeperLab/XenofilteR .

An α-E-catenin (CTNNA1) mutation in hereditary diffuse gastric cancer.

Diffuse gastric cancers typically present as late-stage tumours and, as a result, the 5 year survival rate is poor. Some gastric cancers are hereditary and these tend to be of the diffuse type; 30-40% of hereditary diffuse gastric cancers (HDGCs) can be explained by defective germline alleles of E-cadherin (CDH1), but for the remaining families the factors driving susceptibility remain unknown. We had access to a large HDGC pedigree with no obvious mutation in CDH1, and applied exome sequencing to identify new genes involved in gastric cancer. We identified a germline truncating allele of α-E-catenin (CTNNA1) that was present in two family members with invasive diffuse gastric cancer and four in which intramucosal signet ring cells were detected as part of endoscopic surveillance. The remaining CTNNA1 allele was silenced in the two diffuse gastric cancers from the family that were available for screening, and this was also true for signet ring cells identified in endoscopic biopsies. Since α-E-catenin functions in the same complex as E-cadherin, our results call attention to the broader signalling network surrounding these proteins in HDGC. We also detected somatic mutations in one tumour and found substantial overlap with genes mutated in sporadic gastric cancer, including PIK3CA, ARID1A, MED12 and MED23.

Identification of recurrent FGFR3 fusion genes in lung cancer through kinome-centred RNA sequencing.

Oncogenic fusion genes that involve kinases have proven to be effective targets for therapy in a wide range of cancers. Unfortunately, the diagnostic approaches required to identify these events are struggling to keep pace with the diverse array of genetic alterations that occur in cancer. Diagnostic screening in solid tumours is particularly challenging, as many fusion genes occur with a low frequency. To overcome these limitations, we developed a capture enrichment strategy to enable high-throughput transcript sequencing of the human kinome. This approach provides a global overview of kinase fusion events, irrespective of the identity of the fusion partner. To demonstrate the utility of this system, we profiled 100 non-small cell lung cancers and identified numerous genetic alterations impacting fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3) in lung squamous cell carcinoma and a novel ALK fusion partner in lung adenocarcinoma.

Cancer cell genetics shaping of the tumor microenvironment reveals myeloid cell-centric exploitable vulnerabilities in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Myeloid cells are abundant and plastic immune cell subsets in the liver, to which pro-tumorigenic, inflammatory and immunosuppressive roles have been assigned in the course of tumorigenesis. Yet several aspects underlying their dynamic alterations in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) progression remain elusive, including the impact of distinct genetic mutations in shaping a cancer-permissive tumor microenvironment (TME). Here, in newly generated, clinically-relevant somatic female HCC mouse models, we identify cancer genetics' specific and stage-dependent alterations of the liver TME associated with distinct histopathological and malignant HCC features. Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)-activated, NrasG12D-driven tumors exhibit a mixed phenotype of prominent inflammation and immunosuppression in a T cell-excluded TME. Mechanistically, we report a NrasG12D cancer cell-driven, MEK-ERK1/2-SP1-dependent GM-CSF secretion enabling the accumulation of immunosuppressive and proinflammatory monocyte-derived Ly6Clow cells. GM-CSF blockade curbs the accumulation of these cells, reduces inflammation, induces cancer cell death and prolongs animal survival. Furthermore, GM-CSF neutralization synergizes with a vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitor to restrain HCC outgrowth. These findings underscore the profound alterations of the myeloid TME consequential to MAPK pathway activation intensity and the potential of GM-CSF inhibition as a myeloid-centric therapy tailored to subsets of HCC patients.

Distinct spatiotemporal dynamics of CD8+ T cell-derived cytokines in the tumor microenvironment.

Cells in the tumor microenvironment (TME) influence each other through secretion and sensing of soluble mediators, such as cytokines and chemokines. While signaling of interferon γ (IFNγ) and tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) is integral to anti-tumor immune responses, our understanding of the spatiotemporal behavior of these cytokines is limited. Here, we describe a single cell transcriptome-based approach to infer which signal(s) an individual cell has received. We demonstrate that, contrary to expectations, CD8+ T cell-derived IFNγ is the dominant modifier of the TME relative to TNFα. Furthermore, we demonstrate that cell pools that show abundant IFNγ sensing are characterized by decreased expression of transforming growth factor ß (TGFß)-induced genes, consistent with IFNγ-mediated TME remodeling. Collectively, these data provide evidence that CD8+ T cell-secreted cytokines should be categorized into local and global tissue modifiers, and describe a broadly applicable approach to dissect cytokine and chemokine modulation of the TME.

A proof-of-concept study of sequential treatment with the HDAC inhibitor vorinostat following BRAF and MEK inhibitors in BRAFV600mutated melanoma.

PURPOSE: Development of resistance limits the clinical benefit of BRAF and MEK inhibitors (BRAFi/MEKi) in BRAFV600 mutated melanoma. It has been shown that short-term treatment (14 days) with vorinostat was able to initiate apoptosis of the resistant tumor cells. We aimed to assess the anti-tumor activity of sequential treatment with vorinostat following BRAFi/MEKi in patients with BRAFV600 melanoma who progressed after initial response to BRAFi/MEKi. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients with BRAFi/MEKi resistant BRAFV600 melanoma were treated with vorinostat 360 mg QD for 14 days followed by BRAFi/MEKi. The primary endpoint was an objective response rate of progressive lesions of at least 30% according to RECIST 1.1. Secondary endpoints included progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), safety, pharmacokinetics of vorinostat and translational molecular analyses using ctDNA and tumor biopsies. RESULTS: Twenty-six patients with progressive BRAFi/MEKi resistant BRAFV600 mutated melanoma received treatment with vorinostat. Twenty-two patients were evaluable for response. The ORR was 9% (one complete response for 31.2 months and one partial response for 14.9 months. Median PFS and OS were 1.4 and 5.4 months, respectively. Common adverse events were fatigue (23%) and nausea (19%). ctDNA analysis showed emerging secondary mutations in NRAS and MEK in eight patients at time of BRAFi/MEKi resistance. Elimination of these mutations by vorinostat treatment was observed in three patients. CONCLUSIONS: Intermittent treatment with vorinostat in patients with resistant BRAFV600mutated melanoma is well tolerated. Although the primary endpoint of this study was not met, durable anti-tumor responses were observed in a minority of patients (9%).

A regression model for estimating DNA copy number applied to capture sequencing data.

MOTIVATION: Target enrichment, also referred to as DNA capture, provides an effective way to focus sequencing efforts on a genomic region of interest. Capture data are typically used to detect single-nucleotide variants. It can also be used to detect copy number alterations, which is particularly useful in the context of cancer, where such changes occur frequently. In copy number analysis, it is a common practice to determine log-ratios between test and control samples, but this approach results in a loss of information as it disregards the total coverage or intensity at a locus. RESULTS: We modeled the coverage or intensity of the test sample as a linear function of the control sample. This regression approach is able to deal with regions that are completely deleted, which are problematic for methods that use log-ratios. To demonstrate the utility of our approach, we used capture data to determine copy number for a set of 600 genes in a panel of nine breast cancer cell lines. We found high concordance between our results and those generated using a single-nucleotide polymorphsim genotyping platform. When we compared our results with other log-ratio-based methods, including ExomeCNV, we found that our approach produced better overall correlation with SNP data. AVAILABILITY: The algorithm is implemented in C and R and the code can be downloaded from http://bioinformatics.nki.nl/ocs/ CONTACT: l.wessels@nki.nl SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Comparison of human recombinant protein coatings and fibroblast-ECM to Matrigel for induced pluripotent stem cell culture and renal podocyte differentiation.

Human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) offer great opportunities within the 3R framework. In the field of toxicology, they may contribute greatly to the reduction and eventually replacement of animal models. However, culturing hiPSCs as well as differentiation of hiPSCs into target cells that are used for toxicity testing depend on the presence of extracellular matrix (ECM) coating the growth surface. The most widely used ECM is MatrigelR, an animal product that is derived from mouse sarcoma. Drawbacks of Matrigel are widely recognized and include batch-to batch variations, use of animal rather than human material, and ethical concerns about its production. While alternative coatings exist, higher cost and limited characterizations may hinder their broader uptake by the scientific community. Here, we report an extensive comparison of three commercially available human ECM coatings, vitronectin, laminin-511, and laminin-521, to Matrigel in three different hiPSC lines in long-term culture (≥ 9 passages). Characterization included expression of pluripotent markers in a genome-wide transcriptomics study (TempO-Seq), capacity to differentiate into embryoid bodies, and karyotype stability assessed by analyzing copy number variations by shallow DNA sequencing. Furthermore, a low-cost, decellularized ECM produced by human neonatal dermal fibroblasts was tested. In addition, all alternative coatings were tested for hiPSC differentiation into renal podocyte-like cells in a genome-wide transcriptomics screen. Our results show that all tested coatings were highly comparable to animal-derived Matrigel for both hiPSC maintenance and differentiation into renal podocyte-like cells. Furthermore, decellularized fibroblast-ECM could be a novel, attractive low-cost coating material.

Drug-Induced Epigenomic Plasticity Reprograms Circadian Rhythm Regulation to Drive Prostate Cancer toward Androgen Independence.

In prostate cancer, androgen receptor (AR)-targeting agents are very effective in various disease stages. However, therapy resistance inevitably occurs, and little is known about how tumor cells adapt to bypass AR suppression. Here, we performed integrative multiomics analyses on tissues isolated before and after 3 months of AR-targeting enzalutamide monotherapy from patients with high-risk prostate cancer enrolled in a neoadjuvant clinical trial. Transcriptomic analyses demonstrated that AR inhibition drove tumors toward a neuroendocrine-like disease state. Additionally, epigenomic profiling revealed massive enzalutamide-induced reprogramming of pioneer factor FOXA1 from inactive chromatin sites toward active cis-regulatory elements that dictate prosurvival signals. Notably, treatment-induced FOXA1 sites were enriched for the circadian clock component ARNTL. Posttreatment ARNTL levels were associated with patients' clinical outcomes, and ARNTL knockout strongly decreased prostate cancer cell growth. Our data highlight a remarkable cistromic plasticity of FOXA1 following AR-targeted therapy and revealed an acquired dependency on the circadian regulator ARNTL, a novel candidate therapeutic target. SIGNIFICANCE: Understanding how prostate cancers adapt to AR-targeted interventions is critical for identifying novel drug targets to improve the clinical management of treatment-resistant disease. Our study revealed an enzalutamide-induced epigenomic plasticity toward prosurvival signaling and uncovered the circadian regulator ARNTL as an acquired vulnerability after AR inhibition, presenting a novel lead for therapeutic development. See related commentary by Zhang et al., p. 2017. This article is highlighted in the In This Issue feature, p. 2007.

Predictive Immune-Checkpoint Blockade Classifiers Identify Tumors Responding to Inhibition of PD-1 and/or CTLA-4.

PURPOSE: Combining anti-PD-1 + anti-CTLA-4 immune-checkpoint blockade (ICB) shows improved patient benefit, but it is associated with severe immune-related adverse events and exceedingly high cost. Therefore, there is a dire need to predict which patients respond to monotherapy and which require combination ICB treatment. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: In patient-derived melanoma xenografts (PDX), human tumor microenvironment (TME) cells were swiftly replaced by murine cells upon transplantation. Using our XenofilteR deconvolution algorithm we curated human tumor cell RNA reads, which were subsequently subtracted in silico from bulk (tumor cell + TME) patients' melanoma RNA. This produced a purely tumor cell-intrinsic signature ("InTumor") and a signature comprising tumor cell-extrinsic RNA reads ("ExTumor"). RESULTS: We show that whereas the InTumor signature predicts response to anti-PD-1, the ExTumor predicts anti-CTLA-4 benefit. In PDX, InTumorLO, but not InTumorHI, tumors are effectively eliminated by cytotoxic T cells. When used in conjunction, the InTumor and ExTumor signatures identify not only patients who have a substantially higher chance of responding to combination treatment than to either monotherapy, but also those who are likely to benefit little from anti-CTLA-4 on top of anti-PD-1. CONCLUSIONS: These signatures may be exploited to distinguish melanoma patients who need combination ICB blockade from those who likely benefit from either monotherapy.

Ovarian Cancer-Specific BRCA-like Copy-Number Aberration Classifiers Detect Mutations Associated with Homologous Recombination Deficiency in the AGO-TR1 Trial.

PURPOSE: Previously, we developed breast cancer BRCA1-like and BRCA2-like copy-number profile shrunken centroid classifiers predictive for mutation status and response to therapy, targeting homologous recombination deficiency (HRD). Therefore, we investigated BRCA1- and BRCA2-like classification in ovarian cancer, aiming to acquire classifiers with similar properties as those in breast cancer.Experimental Design: We analyzed DNA copy-number profiles of germline BRCA1- and BRCA2-mutant ovarian cancers and control tumors and observed that existing breast cancer classifiers did not sufficiently predict mutation status. Hence, we trained new shrunken centroid classifiers on this set and validated them in the independent The Cancer Genome Atlas dataset. Subsequently, we assessed BRCA1/2-like classification and obtained germline and tumor mutation and methylation status of cancer predisposition genes, among them several involved in HR repair, of 300 ovarian cancer samples derived from the consecutive cohort trial AGO-TR1 (NCT02222883). RESULTS: The detection rate of the BRCA1-like classifier for BRCA1 mutations and promoter hypermethylation was 95.6%. The BRCA2-like classifier performed less accurately, likely due to a smaller training set. Furthermore, three quarters of the BRCA1/2-like tumors could be explained by (epi)genetic alterations in BRCA1/2, germline RAD51C mutations and alterations in other genes involved in HR. Around half of the non-BRCA-mutated ovarian cancer cases displayed a BRCA-like phenotype. CONCLUSIONS: The newly trained classifiers detected most BRCA-mutated and methylated cancers and all tumors harboring a RAD51C germline mutations. Beyond that, we found an additional substantial proportion of ovarian cancers to be BRCA-like.

Endonuclease FEN1 Coregulates ERα Activity and Provides a Novel Drug Interface in Tamoxifen-Resistant Breast Cancer.

Estrogen receptor α (ERα) is a key transcriptional regulator in the majority of breast cancers. ERα-positive patients are frequently treated with tamoxifen, but resistance is common. In this study, we refined a previously identified 111-gene outcome prediction-classifier, revealing FEN1 as the strongest determining factor in ERα-positive patient prognostication. FEN1 levels were predictive of outcome in tamoxifen-treated patients, and FEN1 played a causal role in ERα-driven cell growth. FEN1 impacted the transcriptional activity of ERα by facilitating coactivator recruitment to the ERα transcriptional complex. FEN1 blockade induced proteasome-mediated degradation of activated ERα, resulting in loss of ERα-driven gene expression and eradicated tumor cell proliferation. Finally, a high-throughput 465,195 compound screen identified a novel FEN1 inhibitor, which effectively blocked ERα function and inhibited proliferation of tamoxifen-resistant cell lines as well as ex vivo-cultured ERα-positive breast tumors. Collectively, these results provide therapeutic proof of principle for FEN1 blockade in tamoxifen-resistant breast cancer. SIGNIFICANCE: These findings show that pharmacologic inhibition of FEN1, which is predictive of outcome in tamoxifen-treated patients, effectively blocks ERα function and inhibits proliferation of tamoxifen-resistant tumor cells.

Kinome capture sequencing of high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma reveals novel mutations in the JAK3 gene.

High-grade serous ovarian carcinoma (HGSOC) remains the deadliest form of epithelial ovarian cancer and despite major efforts little improvement in overall survival has been achieved. Identification of recurring "driver" genetic lesions has the potential to enable design of novel therapies for cancer. Here, we report on a study to find such new therapeutic targets for HGSOC using exome-capture sequencing approach targeting all kinase genes in 127 patient samples. Consistent with previous reports, the most frequently mutated gene was TP53 (97% mutation frequency) followed by BRCA1 (10% mutation frequency). The average mutation frequency of the kinase genes mutated from our panel was 1.5%. Intriguingly, after BRCA1, JAK3 was the most frequently mutated gene (4% mutation frequency). We tested the transforming properties of JAK3 mutants using the Ba/F3 cell-based in vitro functional assay and identified a novel gain-of-function mutation in the kinase domain of JAK3 (p.T1022I). Importantly, p.T1022I JAK3 mutants displayed higher sensitivity to the JAK3-selective inhibitor Tofacitinib compared to controls. For independent validation, we re-sequenced the entire JAK3 coding sequence using tagged amplicon sequencing (TAm-Seq) in 463 HGSOCs resulting in an overall somatic mutation frequency of 1%. TAm-Seq screening of CDK12 in the same population revealed a 7% mutation frequency. Our data confirms that the frequency of mutations in kinase genes in HGSOC is low and provides accurate estimates for the frequency of JAK3 and CDK12 mutations in a large well characterized cohort. Although p.T1022I JAK3 mutations are rare, our functional validation shows that if detected they should be considered as potentially actionable for therapy. The observation of CDK12 mutations in 7% of HGSOC cases provides a strong rationale for routine somatic testing, although more functional and clinical characterization is required to understand which nonsynonymous mutations alterations are associated with homologous recombination deficiency.

Low and variable tumor reactivity of the intratumoral TCR repertoire in human cancers.

Infiltration of human cancers by T cells is generally interpreted as a sign of immune recognition, and there is a growing effort to reactivate dysfunctional T cells at such tumor sites1. However, these efforts only have value if the intratumoral T cell receptor (TCR) repertoire of such cells is intrinsically tumor reactive, and this has not been established in an unbiased manner for most human cancers. To address this issue, we analyzed the intrinsic tumor reactivity of the intratumoral TCR repertoire of CD8+ T cells in ovarian and colorectal cancer-two tumor types for which T cell infiltrates form a positive prognostic marker2,3. Data obtained demonstrate that a capacity to recognize autologous tumor is limited to approximately 10% of intratumoral CD8+ T cells. Furthermore, in two of four patient samples tested, no tumor-reactive TCRs were identified, despite infiltration of their tumors by T cells. These data indicate that the intrinsic capacity of intratumoral T cells to recognize adjacent tumor tissue can be rare and variable, and suggest that clinical efforts to reactivate intratumoral T cells will benefit from approaches that simultaneously increase the quality of the intratumoral TCR repertoire.

Immune induction strategies in metastatic triple-negative breast cancer to enhance the sensitivity to PD-1 blockade: the TONIC trial.

The efficacy of programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) blockade in metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is low1-5, highlighting a need for strategies that render the tumor microenvironment more sensitive to PD-1 blockade. Preclinical research has suggested immunomodulatory properties for chemotherapy and irradiation6-13. In the first stage of this adaptive, non-comparative phase 2 trial, 67 patients with metastatic TNBC were randomized to nivolumab (1) without induction or with 2-week low-dose induction, or with (2) irradiation (3 × 8 Gy), (3) cyclophosphamide, (4) cisplatin or (5) doxorubicin, all followed by nivolumab. In the overall cohort, the objective response rate (ORR; iRECIST14) was 20%. The majority of responses were observed in the cisplatin (ORR 23%) and doxorubicin (ORR 35%) cohorts. After doxorubicin and cisplatin induction, we detected an upregulation of immune-related genes involved in PD-1-PD-L1 (programmed death ligand 1) and T cell cytotoxicity pathways. This was further supported by enrichment among upregulated genes related to inflammation, JAK-STAT and TNF-α signaling after doxorubicin. Together, the clinical and translational data of this study indicate that short-term doxorubicin and cisplatin may induce a more favorable tumor microenvironment and increase the likelihood of response to PD-1 blockade in TNBC. These data warrant confirmation in TNBC and exploration of induction treatments prior to PD-1 blockade in other cancer types.

Publisher Correction: Immune induction strategies in metastatic triple-negative breast cancer to enhance the sensitivity to PD-1 blockade: the TONIC trial.

In the version of this article originally published, there was an error in Fig. 3j. A label on the heatmap read "TGF-α signaling via NF-κB". It should have read "TNF-α signaling via NF-κB". The error has been corrected in the HTML and PDF versions of this article.

Role of variant allele fraction and rare SNP filtering to improve cellular DNA repair endpoint association.

BACKGROUND: Large cancer genome studies continue to reveal new players in treatment response and tumorigenesis. The discrimination of functional alterations from the abundance of passenger genetic alterations still poses challenges and determines DNA sequence variant selection procedures. Here we evaluate variant selection strategies that select homozygous variants and rare SNPs and assess its value in detecting tumor cells with DNA repair defects. METHODS: To this end we employed a panel of 29 patient-derived head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) cell lines, of which a subset harbors DNA repair defects. Mitomycin C (MMC) sensitivity was used as functional endpoint of DNA crosslink repair deficiency. 556 genes including the Fanconi anemia (FA) and homologous recombination (HR) genes, whose products strongly determine MMC response, were capture-sequenced. RESULTS: We show a strong association between MMC sensitivity, thus loss of DNA repair function, and the presence of homozygous and rare SNPs in the relevant FA/HR genes. Excluding such selection criteria impedes the discrimination of crosslink repair status by mutation analysis. Applied to all KEGG pathways, we find that the association with MMC sensitivity is strongest in the KEGG FA pathway, therefore also demonstrating the value of such selection strategies for exploratory analyses. Variant analyses in 56 clinical samples demonstrate that homozygous variants occur more frequently in tumor suppressor genes than oncogenes further supporting the role of a homozygosity criterion to improve gene function association or tumor suppressor gene identification studies. CONCLUSION: Together our data show that the detection of relevant genes or of repair pathway defected tumor cells can be improved by the consideration of allele zygosity and SNP allele frequencies.