Pan-cancer analysis of natural killer (NK) cell infiltration in human malignancies: Molecular features and clinical implications.

Authors

Nicholas Zorko

Nick Zorko

University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

Nick Zorko , Justin Hwang , John R Lozada , Hilary Seifert , Andrew Elliott , Milan Radovich , George W. Sledge Jr., Martin Felices , Elisabeth I. Heath , Dave S. B. Hoon , Wafik S. El-Deiry , Jeffrey Miller , Emmanuel S. Antonarakis

Organizations

University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, Division of Hematology, Oncology and Transplantation, Department of Medicine, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, Caris Life Sciences, Phoenix, AZ, Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, Detroit, MI, St. John's Cancer Institute, Santa Monica, CA, Brown University, Providence, RI, University of Minnesota Masonic Cancer Center, Minneapolis, MN

Research Funding

Other Foundation
Prostate Cancer Foundation, Department of Defense, Caris Life Sciences, U.S. National Institutes of Health

Background: NK cells are part of the innate immune system that are not antigen-specific, but can be redirected to targets of interest using multiple strategies. Advantages of NK cells over T cells include the use of allogeneic off-the-shelf products and lower risk of cytokine release syndrome. Numerous NK-specific immunotherapies are under development for the treatment of cancer, although none are yet FDA-approved. Here, we conducted a pan-cancer analysis of NK cell abundance in >90,000 tumor samples across 45 cancer types using the Caris Precision Oncology Alliance (POA) database. Features of prostate cancer (PCa, n=3365) and renal cell carcinoma (RCC, n=1106) were explored in depth. Methods: DNA (targeted/whole-exome) and RNA (whole-transcriptome) sequencing was performed for patient tumors (N=90,916) submitted to Caris Life Sciences (Phoenix, AZ). NK cell fractions were inferred from RNA-seq data using quanTIseq (Finotello, 2019). Real-world overall survival (OS) was determined from insurance claims, and Kaplan-Meier estimates were calculated. Statistical significance was determined using X2 and Mann-Whitney U tests with corrections for multiple hypothesis testing where appropriate. Results: Median NK cell fractions ranged from 7-9% (medulloblastoma and gliomas) to 2% (thyroid and thymic cancers), with intermediate levels observed for PCa (4.6%) and RCC (3.1%). High (> median) NK cell fractions were associated with improved OS (hazard ratios, 0.28–0.84, p<0.05) for 28 of 45 cancer types, while 16 of 45 including low-grade glioma, GIST, and thyroid had HR <1.0 (0.264-0.997) with 95% CI crossing 1.0. Improved OS was notable in PCa (HR 0.46, 95% CI 0.38–0.56, p<0.0001) and RCC (HR 0.52; 95% CI 0.39–0.70, p<0.0001). Unexpectedly, tumors with higher NK infiltrates were less frequently PD-L1+ (SP142) by IHC in PCa (2.8% vs 5.4%, p=0.08) and RCC (12.4% vs 30.8%, p<0.0001) (i.e. an inverse relationship), despite a lack of correlation of NK infiltration with dMMR/MSI status or tumor mutation burden (TMB) in both cancers. Conversely, increased NK infiltration was associated with a 1.4- to 2.1–fold increased mRNA expression of immunomodulatory receptors LAG3 and TIGIT in both PCa (p<0.0001) and RCC (p<0.0001), but a 1.4–fold decrease in B7-H3 in RCC (p<0.0001). Conclusions: High NK cell infiltration is associated with improved OS in numerous cancer types, including many with inadequate therapeutic options. Our findings suggest broad deployment of NK engagers and CAR-NK products in a range of malignancies. The positive correlation between NK cells and LAG3/TIGIT suggest that combination approaches may be warranted. The inverse relationship between NK infiltrates and PD-L1, and lack of association with standard immune therapy markers (MSI status, TMB), indicates the potential use of NK cell approaches in situations where other immunotherapies are ineffective.

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Abstract Details

Meeting

2023 ASCO Annual Meeting

Session Type

Poster Session

Session Title

Developmental Therapeutics—Immunotherapy

Track

Developmental Therapeutics—Immunotherapy

Sub Track

Immunobiology

Citation

J Clin Oncol 41, 2023 (suppl 16; abstr 2563)

DOI

10.1200/JCO.2023.41.16_suppl.2563

Abstract #

2563

Poster Bd #

405

Abstract Disclosures

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