Tumor cell HLA class I expression and pathologic response following neoadjuvant immunotherapy for newly diagnosed head and neck cancer.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

Biomarkers are needed to identify patients likely to respond to neoadjuvant immunotherapy (NIT) prior to receiving definitive treatment.

Materials and methods

We hypothesized that expression of tumor cell HLA class I would correlate with pathologic response (PR) following NIT for primary untreated head and neck cancer. Multispectral immunofluorescence of pre- and post-treatment biopsy specimens from a neoadjuvant study of bintrafusp alfa, a dual TGF-β and PD-L1 inhibitor, was performed.

Results

Discordant expression of tumor cell HLA class I and PD-L1 measured by multispectral immunofluorescence was observed with most positive tumor cells expressing HLA class I or PD-L1 but not both. Spatial analysis revealed colocalization between tumor parenchyma T cells

SUBMITTER: Robbins Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9974754 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature