Tumor-infiltrating immune cells in hepatocellular carcinoma: Tregs is correlated with poor overall survival

PLoS One. 2020 Apr 2;15(4):e0231003. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0231003. eCollection 2020.

Abstract

Systematic interrogation of tumor-infiltrating immune cells (TIICs) is key to the prediction of clinical outcome and development of immunotherapies. However, little is known about the TIICs of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and its impact on the prognosis of patients and potential for immunotherapy. We applied CIBERSORT of 1090 tumors to infer the infiltration of 22 subsets of TIICs using gene expression data. Unsupervised clustering analysis by 22 TIICs revealed 4 clusters of tumors, mainly defined by macrophages and T cells, with distinct prognosis and associations with immune checkpoint molecules, including PD-1, CD274, CTLA-4, LAG-3 and IFNG. We found tumors with decreased number of M1 macrophages or increased regulatory T cells were associated with poor prognosis. Based on the multivariate Cox analysis, a nomogram was also established for clinical application. In conclusion, composition of the TIICs in HCC was quite different, which is an important determinant of prognosis with great potential to identify candidates for immunotherapy.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • B7-H1 Antigen / immunology
  • CTLA-4 Antigen / immunology
  • Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / immunology*
  • Female
  • Gene Expression / immunology
  • Humans
  • Immunotherapy / methods
  • Liver Neoplasms / immunology*
  • Lymphocytes, Tumor-Infiltrating / immunology*
  • Macrophages / immunology
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Prognosis
  • Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor / immunology
  • T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / immunology*

Substances

  • B7-H1 Antigen
  • CTLA-4 Antigen
  • Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor

Grants and funding

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81672432) and the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2018M640999 and 2019T120920) to Hui Guo. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.