Highly Multiplexed Digital Spatial Profiling of the Tumor Microenvironment of Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Patients
Arutha Kulasinghe, Touraj Taheri, Kenneth J. O’Byrne, Brett Hughes, Liz Kenny, Chamindie Punyadeera
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) have shown durable and long-term benefits in a subset of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients. To identify patient-responders from non-responders, biomarkers are needed which are predictive of outcome to ICI therapy. Cues in the tumor microenvironment (TME) have been informative in understanding the tumor-immune contexture. METHODS: In this preliminary study, the NanoString GeoMx™ Digital Spatial Profiling (DSP) technology was used to determine the immune marker and compartment specific measurements in a cohort of HNSCC tumors from patients receiving ICI therapy. RESULTS: Our data revealed that markers involved with immune cell infiltration (CD8 T-cells) were not predictive of outcome to ICI therapy. Rather, a number of immune cell types and protein markers (CD4, CD68, CD45, CD44, CD66b) were found to correlate with progressive disease. Cross platform comparison with the Opal Vectra (Perkin Elmer) for a number of markers across similar regions of interest demonstrated concordance for pan-cytokeratin, CD8, and PD-L1. CONCLUSION: This study, to our knowledge, represents the first digital spatial analysis of HNSCC tumors. A larger cohort of HNSCC will be required to orthogonally validate the findings.