A transcriptionally und functionally distinct PD-1+ CD8+ T cell pool with predictive potential in non-small cell lung cancer treated with PD-1 blockade

Evidence from mouse chronic viral infection models suggests that CD8+ T cell subsets characterized by distinct expression levels of the receptor PD-1 diverge in their state of exhaustion and potential for reinvigoration by PD-1 blockade. However, it remains unknown whether T cells in human cancer adopt a similar spectrum of exhausted states based on PD-1 expression levels. We compared transcriptional, metabolic, and functional signatures of intratumoral CD8+ T lymphocyte populations with high (PD-1T), intermediate (PD-1N) and no PD-1 expression (PD-1-) from non-small cell lung cancer patients. We observed that, PD-1T T cells show a markedly different transcriptional and metabolic profile as compared to PD-1N and PD-1- lymphocytes, as well as an intrinsically high capacity for tumor recognition. Furthermore, while PD-1T lymphocytes are impaired in classical effector cytokine production, they produce CXCL13 that mediates immune cell recruitment to tertiary lymphoid structures. Strikingly, the presence of PD-1T cells was strongly predictive for both response and survival in a small cohort of non-small cell lung cancer patients treated with PD-1 blockade. The characterization of a distinct state of tumor-reactive, PD-1 bright lymphocytes in human cancer, which only partially resembles that seen in chronic infection, provides novel potential avenues for therapeutic intervention. Overall design: Intratumoral CD8+ T cells from 11 non-small cell lung cancer patients that were sub-sorted into PD1-high (PD-1T), PD1-intermediate (PD-1N) and PD1-negative (PD-1-) cells, were sequenced using Illumina HiSeq4000. In addition, peripheral blood effector memory T cells from 4 healthy donors were sequenced using Illumina HiSeq4000.

37

Thommen DS, Koelzer VH, Herzig P, Roller A, Trefny M, Dimeloe S, Kiialainen A, Hanhart J, Schill C, Hess C, Savic Prince S, Wiese M, Lardinois D, Ho PC, Klein C, Karanikas V, Mertz KD, Schumacher TN, Zippelius A