Increased co-expression of 4-1BB with PD-1 on CD8+ tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes is associated with improved prognosis and immunotherapy response in cervical cancer

Abstract

Background: The combination of agonistic antibodies with immune checkpoint inhibitors presents a promising avenue for cancer immunotherapy. Our objective is to explore the co-expression of 4-1BB, ICOS, CD28, with PD-1 on CD8+ T cells in the peripheral blood and tumor tissue of cervical cancer(CC) patients, with a specific focus on the association between the co-expression levels of 4-1BB with PD-1 and clinical features, prognosis as well as immunotherapy response. The goal is to offer valuable insights into cervical cancer immunotherapy.

Methods: In this study, 50 treatment-naive patients diagnosed with CC were enrolled. Flow cytometry was used to detect PD-1/4-1BB, PD-1/ICOS and PD-1/CD28 co-expression on CD8+ T cells. Subsequent analysis aimed to investigate the differential co-expression between peripheral blood and cancer tissue, and also the correlation between co-expression and clinical features in these patients. Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) datasets, The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) cohort, The IMvigor210 cohort, The BMS038cohort and Immunophenoscores were utilized to investigate the correlation between PD-1/4-1BB and the immune microenvironment, prognosis, immunotherapy, and drug sensitivity in cervical cancer.

Results: The co-expression levels of PD-1/4-1BB, PD-1/ICOS, and PD-1/CD28 on CD8+ tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) were significantly higher in cervical cancer patients compared to those in peripheral blood. Clinical feature analysis reveals that on CD8+ TILs, the co-expression of PD-1/4-1BB is more closely correlated with clinical characteristics compared to PD-1/ICOS, PD-1/CD28, PD-1, and 4-1BB. Pseudo-time analysis and cell communication profiling reveal close associations between the subgroups harboring 4-1BB and PD-1. The prognosis, tumor mutation burden, immune landscape, and immunotherapy response exhibit statistically significant variations between the high and low co-expression groups of PD-1/4-1BB. The high co-expression group of PD-1/4-1BB is more likely to benefit from immunotherapy.

Conclusion: PD-1/4-1BB, PD-1/ICOS, and PD-1/CD28 exhibit elevated co-expression on CD8+TILs of cervical cancer, while demonstrating lower expression in circulating T cells. The co-expression patterns of PD-1/4-1BB significantly contributed to the prediction of immune cell infiltration characteristics, prognosis, and tailored immunotherapy tactics. PD-1/4-1BB exhibits potential as a target for combination immunotherapy in cervical cancer.

Keywords: 4-1BB; PD-1; cervical cancer; co-expression; immunotherapy efficacy; prognosis.