Circulating Neoantigen- and Viral Oncoprotein-Specific CD8+ T Cells Share a Transcriptional Signature.

ABSTRACT: Tumor-specific CD8+ T cells in blood seem to be important for and predictive of response to anti-PD-1 therapies. However, as most tumor antigens are unique to a given patient, the identification of tumor-specific CD8+ T cells is not routinely feasible. In this study, we characterized polyomavirus-specific CD8+ T cells from the blood of 17 patients with virus-driven Merkel cell carcinoma. We identified a 98-gene signature [Signature of Peripheral Tumor-specific CD8+ T cells (SPoTT)] that discriminated circulating tumor-specific CD8+ T cells from other T cells in immunotherapy-naïve patients. We observed profound transcriptomic differences among tumor-specific CD8+ T cells from blood versus those from tumor. In validation cohorts of Merkel cell carcinoma, as well as neoantigen-driven cancers

SUBMITTER: Jani S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12591038 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature