Intratumoural immune heterogeneity as a hallmark of tumour evolution and progression in hepatocellular carcinoma.

ABSTRACT: The clinical relevance of immune landscape intratumoural heterogeneity (immune-ITH) and its role in tumour evolution remain largely unexplored. Here, we uncover significant spatial and phenotypic immune-ITH from multiple tumour sectors and decipher its relationship with tumour evolution and disease progression in hepatocellular carcinomas (HCC). Immune-ITH is associated with tumour transcriptomic-ITH, mutational burden and distinct immune microenvironments. Tumours with low immune-ITH experience higher immunoselective pressure and escape via loss of heterozygosity in human leukocyte antigens and immunoediting. Instead, the tumours with high immune-ITH evolve to a more immunosuppressive/exhausted microenvironment. This gradient of immune pressure along with immune-ITH represents a hallmark

SUBMITTER: Nguyen PHD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7801667 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature