Abstract | Background: Methods: 14 patients with HCC were treated with the combination of cabozantinib and nivolumab through the Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center. Among them, 12 patients (5 responders + 7 non-responders) underwent successful margin negative resection and are subjects to tissue microarray (TMA) construction containing 37 representative tumor region cores. Using the TMAs, we performed imaging mass cytometry (IMC) with a panel of 27-cell lineage and functional markers. All multiplexed images were then segmented to generate a single-cell dataset that enables (1) tumor-immune compartment analysis and (2) cell community analysis based on graph-embedding methodology. Results from these hierarchies are merged into response-associated biological process patterns. Results: Image processing on 37 multiplexed-images discriminated 59,453 cells and was then clustered into 17 cell types. Compartment analysis showed that at immune- tumor boundaries from NR, PD-L1 level on tumor cells is significantly higher than remote regions; however, Granzyme B expression shows the opposite pattern. We also identify that the close proximity of CD8+ T cells to arginase 1hi (Arg1hi) macrophages, rather than CD4+ T cells, is a salient feature of the TME in non-responders. Furthermore, cell community analysis extracted 8 types of cell-cell interaction networks termed cellular communities (CCs). We observed that in non-responders, macrophage-enriched CC (MCC) and lymphocyte-enriched CC (LCC) strongly communicate with tumor CC, whereas in responders, such communications were undermined by the engagement between MCC and LCC. Conclusion: These results demonstrate the feasibility of a novel application of multiplexed image analysis that is broadly applicable to quantitative analysis of pathology specimens in immuno-oncology and provides further evidence that CD163-Arg1hi macrophages may be a therapeutic target in HCC. The results also provide critical information for the development of mechanistic quantitative systems pharmacology models aimed at predicting outcomes of clinical trials.
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Authors | Haoyang Mi, Won Jin Ho, Mark Yarchoan, Aleksander S Popel |
Journal | Frontiers in immunology
(Front Immunol)
Vol. 13
Pg. 892250
( 2022)
ISSN: 1664-3224 [Electronic] Switzerland |
PMID | 35634309
(Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
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Copyright | Copyright © 2022 Mi, Ho, Yarchoan and Popel. |
Chemical References |
- Anilides
- B7-H1 Antigen
- Pyridines
- Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A
- cabozantinib
- Nivolumab
|
Topics |
- Anilides
- B7-H1 Antigen
(metabolism)
- CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes
(metabolism)
- Carcinoma, Hepatocellular
(pathology)
- Humans
- Liver Neoplasms
(pathology)
- Nivolumab
(therapeutic use)
- Pyridines
- Spatial Analysis
- Tumor Microenvironment
- Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A
(metabolism)
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