Spatially mapping the immune landscape of melanoma using imaging mass cytometry

Sci Immunol. 2022 Apr;7(70):eabi5072. doi: 10.1126/sciimmunol.abi5072. Epub 2022 Apr 1.

Abstract

Melanoma is an immunogenic cancer with a high response rate to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). It harbors a high mutation burden compared with other cancers and, as a result, has abundant tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) within its microenvironment. However, understanding the complex interplay between the stroma, tumor cells, and distinct TIL subsets remains a substantial challenge in immune oncology. To properly study this interplay, quantifying spatial relationships of multiple cell types within the tumor microenvironment is crucial. To address this, we used cytometry time-of-flight (CyTOF) imaging mass cytometry (IMC) to simultaneously quantify the expression of 35 protein markers, characterizing the microenvironment of 5 benign nevi and 67 melanomas. We profiled more than 220,000 individual cells to identify melanoma, lymphocyte subsets, macrophage/monocyte, and stromal cell populations, allowing for in-depth spatial quantification of the melanoma microenvironment. We found that within pretreatment melanomas, the abundance of proliferating antigen-experienced cytotoxic T cells (CD8+CD45RO+Ki67+) and the proximity of antigen-experienced cytotoxic T cells to melanoma cells were associated with positive response to ICIs. Our study highlights the potential of multiplexed single-cell technology to quantify spatial cell-cell interactions within the tumor microenvironment to understand immune therapy responses.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Humans
  • Image Cytometry
  • Lymphocytes, Tumor-Infiltrating
  • Melanoma*
  • T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic
  • Tumor Microenvironment

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