T antigen-specific CD8+ T cells associate with PD-1 blockade response in virus-positive Merkel cell carcinoma.
J Clin Invest
; 134(8)2024 Jan 30.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38618958
ABSTRACT
Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a highly immunogenic skin cancer primarily induced by Merkel cell polyomavirus, which is driven by the expression of the oncogenic T antigens (T-Ags). Blockade of the programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1) pathway has shown remarkable response rates, but evidence for therapy-associated T-Ag-specific immune response and therapeutic strategies for the nonresponding fraction are both limited. We tracked T-Ag-reactive CD8+ T cells in peripheral blood of 26 MCC patients under anti-PD1 therapy, using DNA-barcoded pMHC multimers, displaying all peptides from the predicted HLA ligandome of the oncoproteins, covering 33 class I haplotypes. We observed a broad T cell recognition of T-Ags, including identification of 20 T-Ag-derived epitopes we believe to be novel. Broadening of the T-Ag recognition profile and increased T cell frequencies during therapy were strongly associated with clinical response and prolonged progression-free survival. T-Ag-specific T cells could be further boosted and expanded directly from peripheral blood using artificial antigen-presenting scaffolds, even in patients with no detectable T-Ag-specific T cells. These T cells provided strong tumor-rejection capacity while retaining a favorable phenotype for adoptive cell transfer. These findings demonstrate that T-Ag-specific T cells are associated with the clinical outcome to PD-1 blockade and that Ag-presenting scaffolds can be used to boost such responses.
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Texto completo:
1
Bases de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Neoplasias Cutáneas
/
Carcinoma de Células de Merkel
Límite:
Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J Clin Invest
Año:
2024
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Dinamarca