Electrostatic human leukocyte antigen-neoantigen interactions and durable benefit in non-small cell lung cancer patients treated with immunotherapy.

Authors

null

Amy Lauren Cummings

David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA

Amy Lauren Cummings , Jaklin Gukasyan , Henry Lu , Benji Bachrach , John Madrigal , James M. Carroll , Wisdom O Akingbemi , Zorawar Singh Noor , Aaron Elliott Lisberg , Edward B. Garon

Organizations

David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, Univ of California Irvine, Orange, CA, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California/TRIO-US Network, Los Angeles, CA

Research Funding

U.S. National Institutes of Health

Background: Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) binding relies on energy from the interaction of B-pocket residues with anchor amino acids (AA). Among HLA class I supertypes, only HLA-B has distinct electrostatic B-pocket specificities, and of 7 HLA-B supertypes, B08, B27, and B44 feature binding pockets with preferences for charged AAs (Lund Immunogen). Whether electrostatic interactions in HLA-neoepitope binding would identify superior neoantigens and associate with survival in NSCLC patients treated with immunotherapy was unknown. Methods: Forty patients with advanced NSCLC treated with single agent pembrolizumab on a clinical trial with at least 5 years follow-up underwent paired tumor-normal whole-exome sequencing (WES) with Illumina HiSeq 2000/3000. HLA typing used normal (germline) WES from peripheral blood mononuclear cells analyzed with BWA-ALN and Athlates software (Liu Nuc Acids Res); supertype was determined by 2008 criteria (Sidney BMC Immunol). Tumor nonsynonymous coding mutations were identified with GATK v3.8, annotated with Ensembl-VEP, and passed through pVAC-Seq using a NetMHC 4.0 algorithm to identify potential neoepitopes 9 AAs in length (Hundal Genome Med). Neoepitopes were characterized based on mutant AA charge (D/E negative, H/K/R positive) and position. High affinity neoepitopes (HAN) were defined as those an with IC50 < 50 nM with wildtype IC50 > 50 nM (Ghorani Annals Oncol) and a mutation to a known B-pocket supermotif (K in position 3 or 5 for B08, R in position 2 for B27, E in position 2 for B44) (Lund Immunogen). Progression-free survival (PFS) was compared with logrank tests and proportional hazards (JMPv14, Cary, NC). Results: Of the 40 patients, 29 (72.5%) had at least one B08, B27, or B44 allele. One or more supertype-matched HAN were found in 10 of the 29 (34.5%), including 6/7 with PFS > 2 years, 3 of whom continue on therapy beyond 5 years. Median PFS in those with HAN was 26.7 months (m) vs 4.3 m in those without (HR 0.34, 95% CI 0.11-0.88, p = 0.024). Conclusions: Electrostatic charge may serve as a mechanism for enhanced binding affinity in HLA-B supertypes with a preference for charged AA in their B-pockets. Identification of favorable HLA-matched neoepitopes may identify distinct prognostic groups and potentially durable responders to immunotherapy in NSCLC.

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Abstract Details

Meeting

2019 ASCO Annual Meeting

Session Type

Poster Session

Session Title

Developmental Immunotherapy and Tumor Immunobiology

Track

Developmental Therapeutics—Immunotherapy

Sub Track

Tissue-Based Biomarkers

Citation

J Clin Oncol 37, 2019 (suppl; abstr 2635)

DOI

10.1200/JCO.2019.37.15_suppl.2635

Abstract #

2635

Poster Bd #

279

Abstract Disclosures