RESUMEN
Adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) is a rare, usually slow-growing yet aggressive head and neck malignancy. Despite its clinical significance, our understanding of the cellular evolution and microenvironment in ACC remains limited. We investigated the intratumoral microbiomes of 50 ACC tumor tissues and 33 adjacent normal tissues using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. This allowed us to characterize the bacterial communities within the ACC and explore potential associations between the bacterial community structure, patient clinical characteristics, and tumor molecular features obtained through RNA sequencing. The bacterial composition in the ACC was significantly different from that in adjacent normal salivary tissue, and the ACC exhibited diverse levels of species richness. We identified two main microbial subtypes within the ACC: oral-like and gut-like. Oral-like microbiomes, characterized by increased diversity and abundance of Neisseria, Leptotrichia, Actinomyces, Streptococcus, Rothia, and Veillonella (commonly found in healthy oral cavities), were associated with a less aggressive ACC-II molecular subtype and improved patient outcomes. Notably, we identified the same oral genera in oral cancer and head and neck squamous cell carcinomas. In both cancers, they were part of shared oral communities associated with a more diverse microbiome, less aggressive tumor phenotype, and better survival that reveal the genera as potential pancancer biomarkers for favorable microbiomes in ACC and other head and neck cancers. Conversely, gut-like intratumoral microbiomes, which feature low diversity and colonization by gut mucus layer-degrading species, such as Bacteroides, Akkermansia, Blautia, Bifidobacterium, and Enterococcus, were associated with poorer outcomes. Elevated levels of Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron were independently associated with significantly worse survival and positively correlated with tumor cell biosynthesis of glycan-based cell membrane components.
Asunto(s)
Carcinoma Adenoide Quístico , Neoplasias de Cabeza y Cuello , Microbiota , ARN Ribosómico 16S , Humanos , Carcinoma Adenoide Quístico/microbiología , Carcinoma Adenoide Quístico/patología , Neoplasias de Cabeza y Cuello/microbiología , Neoplasias de Cabeza y Cuello/patología , Femenino , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , ARN Ribosómico 16S/genética , Anciano , Adulto , Bacterias/clasificación , Bacterias/genética , Bacterias/aislamiento & purificaciónRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Chemoradiation (CRT) may modulate the immune milieu as an in-situ vaccine. Rapid dose delivery of brachytherapy has unclear impact on T-cell repertoires. HPV-associated cancers express viral oncoproteins E6/E7, which enable tracking antigen/tumor-specific immunity during CRT. METHODS: Thirteen cervical cancer patients on a multi-institutional prospective protocol from 1/2020-1/2023 underwent standard-of-care CRT with pulsed-dose-rate brachytherapy boost (2 fractions). Cervix swabs at various timepoints underwent multiplex DNA deep sequencing of the TCR-ß/CDR3 region with immunoSEQ. Separately, HPV-responsive T-cell clones were also expanded ex vivo. Statistical analysis was via Mann-Whitney-U. RESULTS: TCR productive clonality, templates, frequency, or rearrangements increased post-brachytherapy in 8 patients. Seven patients had E6/E7-responsive evolution over CRT with increased productive templates (ranges: 1.2-50.2 fold-increase from baseline), frequency (1.2-1.7), rearrangements (1.2-40.2), and clonality (1.2-15.4). Five patients had HPV-responsive clonal expansion post-brachytherapy, without changes in HPV non-responsive clones. Epitope mapping revealed VDJ rearrangements targeting cervical cancer-associated antigens in 5 patients. The only two patients with disease recurrence lacked response in all metrics. A lack of global TCR remodeling correlated with worse recurrence-free survival, pâ¯=â¯0.04. CONCLUSION: CRT and brachytherapy alters the cervical cancer microenvironment to facilitate the expansion of specific T-cell populations, which may contribute to treatment efficacy.
Asunto(s)
Braquiterapia , Infecciones por Papillomavirus , Neoplasias del Cuello Uterino , Femenino , Humanos , Neoplasias del Cuello Uterino/radioterapia , Cuello del Útero , Infecciones por Papillomavirus/complicaciones , Linfocitos T , Braquiterapia/métodos , Estudios Prospectivos , Recurrencia Local de Neoplasia , Receptores de Antígenos de Linfocitos T , Microambiente TumoralRESUMEN
While we recognize the prognostic importance of clinicopathological measures and circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), the independent contribution of quantitative image markers to prognosis in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains underexplored. In our multi-institutional study of 394 NSCLC patients, we utilize pre-treatment computed tomography (CT) and 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) to establish a habitat imaging framework for assessing regional heterogeneity within individual tumors. This framework identifies three PET/CT subtypes, which maintain prognostic value after adjusting for clinicopathologic risk factors including tumor volume. Additionally, these subtypes complement ctDNA in predicting disease recurrence. Radiogenomics analysis unveil the molecular underpinnings of these imaging subtypes, highlighting downregulation in interferon alpha and gamma pathways in the high-risk subtype. In summary, our study demonstrates that these habitat imaging subtypes effectively stratify NSCLC patients based on their risk levels for disease recurrence after initial curative surgery or radiotherapy, providing valuable insights for personalized treatment approaches.
Asunto(s)
Carcinoma de Pulmón de Células no Pequeñas , Neoplasias Pulmonares , Humanos , Carcinoma de Pulmón de Células no Pequeñas/diagnóstico por imagen , Carcinoma de Pulmón de Células no Pequeñas/genética , Carcinoma de Pulmón de Células no Pequeñas/metabolismo , Tomografía Computarizada por Tomografía de Emisión de Positrones/métodos , Neoplasias Pulmonares/diagnóstico por imagen , Neoplasias Pulmonares/genética , Neoplasias Pulmonares/metabolismo , Fluorodesoxiglucosa F18 , Radiofármacos , Recurrencia Local de Neoplasia/diagnóstico por imagen , Recurrencia Local de Neoplasia/genética , Recurrencia Local de Neoplasia/patología , Tomografía de Emisión de Positrones , Tomografía Computarizada por Rayos X , Estudios RetrospectivosRESUMEN
[18F]Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) and computed tomography (CT) are indispensable components in modern medicine. Although PET can provide additional diagnostic value, it is costly and not universally accessible, particularly in low-income countries. To bridge this gap, we have developed a conditional generative adversarial network pipeline that can produce FDG-PET from diagnostic CT scans based on multi-center multi-modal lung cancer datasets (n = 1,478). Synthetic PET images are validated across imaging, biological, and clinical aspects. Radiologists confirm comparable imaging quality and tumor contrast between synthetic and actual PET scans. Radiogenomics analysis further proves that the dysregulated cancer hallmark pathways of synthetic PET are consistent with actual PET. We also demonstrate the clinical values of synthetic PET in improving lung cancer diagnosis, staging, risk prediction, and prognosis. Taken together, this proof-of-concept study testifies to the feasibility of applying deep learning to obtain high-fidelity PET translated from CT.