Circulating clonally expanded T cells reflect functions of tumor-infiltrating T cells.

ABSTRACT: Understanding the relationship between tumor and peripheral immune environments could allow longitudinal immune monitoring in cancer. Here, we examined whether T cells that share the same TCRαβ and are found in both tumor and blood can be interrogated to gain insight into the ongoing tumor T cell response. Paired transcriptome and TCRαβ repertoire of circulating and tumor-infiltrating T cells were analyzed at the single-cell level from matched tumor and blood from patients with metastatic melanoma. We found that in circulating T cells matching clonally expanded tumor-infiltrating T cells (circulating TILs), gene signatures of effector functions, but not terminal exhaustion, reflect those observed in the tumor. In contrast, features of exhaustion are displayed predominantly by tumor-exclusi

SUBMITTER: Lucca LE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7933991 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature