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NanoString immune profiling of pediatric brain tumors

ABSTRACT: With the increasing use of immunotherapy in cancer, understanding the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) has become increasingly important. There has been great success in treatment of some pediatric high-grade gliomas with immune checkpoint inhibition, however overall, the immune microenvironment in pediatric brain tumors remains poorly understood. Accordingly, we developed a clinical immune-oncology gene expression assay and used it to profile a diverse range of pediatric brain tumors with detailed clinical and molecular annotation, including a total of 1379 cases. Our findings demonstrate the critical importance of understanding the TIME to guide the prognosis and management of pediatric brain tumors. In pediatric low-grade gliomas we identified distinct patterns of immune activation with prognostic significance in BRAF V600E mutant tumors. In pediatric high-grade gliomas, we observed elevated inflammation and T cell infiltrates in tumors that have historically been considered immune cold, as well as genomic correlates of inflammation levels. In our cohort of mismatch repair deficient high-grade gliomas treated with immune checkpoint inhibition, we found that high tumor inflammation signature was a significant predictor of treatment response. Furthermore, we demonstrated the potential for multimodal biomarkers to improve the treatment stratification of these patients. Importantly, while overall patterns of immune activation were observed for histologically and genomically defined tumor types, there was nonetheless significant variability within each diagnostic entity, indicating that the immune response must be evaluated as an independent feature. In sum, in addition to the histology and molecular profile, this work establishes the importance of assessing and reporting on the tumor immune microenvironment as an essential axis of cancer diagnosis in the era of personalized medicine.

ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens

PROVIDER: GSE227756 | GEO | 2024/02/19

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Background Primitive brain tumors are the first cause of cancer-related death in children. Tumor cells with stem-like properties (TSCs), thought to account for tumorigenesis and therapeutic resistance, have been isolated from high-grade gliomas in adults. Whether TSCs are a common component of pediatric brain tumors and are of clinical relevance remains to be determined. Methodology/Principal findings Tumor cells with self-renewal properties were isolated with cell biology techniques from a majority of 55 pediatric brain tumors samples, regardless of their histopathologies and grades of malignancy (57% of embryonal tumors, 57% of low-grade gliomas and neuro-glial tumors, 70% of ependymomas, 91% of high-grade gliomas). The vast majority (10/12) of high-grade glioma-derived oncospheres sustained long-term self-renewal numbers akin to neural stem cells (>7 self-renewals), whereas cells with limited renewing abilities akin to neural progenitors dominated in all other tumor types. Regardless of tumor entities, the young age group was associated with self-renewal properties akin to neural stem cells (P=0.05, chi-square test). TSCs shared a complex molecular profile combining embryonic stem cell markers with elements controlling neural stem cell properties and epithelio-mesenchymal transitions. They were radio- and chemoresistant and formed aggressive tumors after intracerebral grafting. Survival analysis of the cohort showed an association between isolation of TSCs with long-term self-renewal abilities and a patientM-^Rs higher mortality rate (P = 0.022, log-rank test). Patients bearing cells with limited self-renewal properties constituted an intermediate group of survival but which did not reach statistical significance. Conclusions/Significance In brain tumors affecting adult patients, TSC have been isolated only from high-grade gliomas. In contrast, our data show that tumor cells with stem cell-like or progenitor-like properties can be isolated from a wide range of histological sub-types and grades of pediatric brain tumors. They suggest that cellular mechanisms fueling tumor development differ between adult and pediatric brain tumors.

Project description:Background Primitive brain tumors are the first cause of cancer-related death in children. Tumor cells with stem-like properties (TSCs), thought to account for tumorigenesis and therapeutic resistance, have been isolated from high-grade gliomas in adults. Whether TSCs are a common component of pediatric brain tumors and are of clinical relevance remains to be determined. Methodology/Principal findings Tumor cells with self-renewal properties were isolated with cell biology techniques from a majority of 55 pediatric brain tumors samples, regardless of their histopathologies and grades of malignancy (57% of embryonal tumors, 57% of low-grade gliomas and neuro-glial tumors, 70% of ependymomas, 91% of high-grade gliomas). The vast majority (10/12) of high-grade glioma-derived oncospheres sustained long-term self-renewal numbers akin to neural stem cells (>7 self-renewals), whereas cells with limited renewing abilities akin to neural progenitors dominated in all other tumor types. Regardless of tumor entities, the young age group was associated with self-renewal properties akin to neural stem cells (P=0.05, chi-square test). TSCs shared a complex molecular profile combining embryonic stem cell markers with elements controlling neural stem cell properties and epithelio-mesenchymal transitions. They were radio- and chemoresistant and formed aggressive tumors after intracerebral grafting. Survival analysis of the cohort showed an association between isolation of TSCs with long-term self-renewal abilities and a patients higher mortality rate (P = 0.022, log-rank test). Patients bearing cells with limited self-renewal properties constituted an intermediate group of survival but which did not reach statistical significance. Conclusions/Significance In brain tumors affecting adult patients, TSC have been isolated only from high-grade gliomas. In contrast, our data show that tumor cells with stem cell-like or progenitor-like properties can be isolated from a wide range of histological sub-types and grades of pediatric brain tumors. They suggest that cellular mechanisms fueling tumor development differ between adult and pediatric brain tumors.

Project description:Purpose: To define copy number alterations and gene expression signatures underlying pediatric high-grade glioma (HGG). Patients and Methods: We conducted a high-resolution analysis of genomic imbalances in 78 de novo pediatric HGG, including 7 diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas, and 10 HGG cases arising in children who received cranial irradiation for a previous cancer, using Affymetrix 500K GeneChips. Gene expression signatures for 53 tumors were analyzed with Affymetrix U133v2 arrays. Results were compared with publicly available data from adult tumors. Results: Pediatric and adult glioblastoma were clearly distinguished by frequent gain of chromosome 1q (30% vs 9%) and lower frequency of chromosome 7 gain (13% vs 74%), respectively. The most common focal amplifications also differed, with PDGFRA and EGFR predominant in childhood and adult populations respectively. These common alterations in pediatric HGG were detected at higher frequency in irradiation-induced tumors, suggesting that these are initiating events in childhood gliomagenesis. CDKN2A was the most common tumor suppressor gene targeted by homozygous deletion in pediatric HGG. No IDH1 hotspot mutations were found in pediatric tumors, highlighting molecular differences in pathogenesis between childhood HGG and adult secondary glioblastoma. Integrated copy number and gene expression data indicated that deregulated PDGFRA signaling plays a major role in pediatric HGG. Conclusions: Integrated molecular profiling showed substantial differences in the molecular features underlying pediatric and adult HGG, indicating that findings in adult tumors cannot be simply extrapolated to younger patients. PDGFRA may be a useful target for pediatric HGG including diffuse pontine gliomas. Keywords: disease state analysis 78 samples for SNP analysis, including 10 samples arising in children who received cranial irradiation for a previous cancer and 7 diffuse pontine gliomas; 53 of them with gene expression analysis; 2 tumor grades To have access to SNP CEL files, please contact Dr. Suzanne Baker (suzzane.baker@stjude.org).

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NanoString immune profiling of pediatric brain tumors

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