Association of napsin A-specific T cell clonotypes with durable clinical benefit to immunotherapy in patients with metastatic NSCLC.

Authors

null

Natalie J. Miller

University of Washington, Seattle, WA

Natalie J. Miller , Christina S Baik , Joel W. Neal , A. McGarry Houghton , Viswam S. Nair , Rafael Santana-Davila , Sylvia Lee , Keith D. Eaton , Renato G. Martins , Heather A. Wakelee , Sukhmani Kaur Padda , Shin-Heng Chiou , Diane Tseng

Organizations

University of Washington, Seattle, WA, Stanford Cancer Center, Stanford, CA, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, WA, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford, CA, Fox Chase Cancer Center/Temple Health, Philadelphia, PA, Cancer Institute of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ

Research Funding

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center Specialized Programs of Research Excellence (SPORE) in Lung Cancer Career Enhancement Program Award
Lung Cancer Research Foundation Scientific Grant, Fred Hutch/University of Washington Cancer Consortium Cancer Center Support Grant (CCSG), University of Washington Thoracic/ Head and Neck Medical Oncology Research Pilot Award, Names Family Foundation, Friedman/Rieger Family

Background: Despite the vast amount of T cell receptor (TCR) sequencing data generated from patients undergoing immune checkpoint inhibition (ICI), the clinical insights gained from interrogating antigen-specific T cell responses have been limited. Napsin A is a self-antigen normally expressed in lung parenchyma and highly expressed as a cancer antigen in lung adenocarcinoma. A prior study demonstrated enrichment of Napsin A-specific clonotypes within lung tumors and increased frequency of Napsin A-specific CD8+ IFNγ+ cells among patients with response to ICI (Berner et al 2022 Science Immunol). This finding suggests that T cell responses against Napsin A may be relevant to ICI-mediated anti-tumor responses and might offer a mechanistic link between tumor control and immune adverse events involving the lungs. We examined this hypothesis utilizing TCR repertoire data and assessed whether Napsin A-specific clonotypes are more abundant in the blood of patients with durable clinical benefit to ICI compared to patients with progressive disease. Methods: Patients with metastatic NSCLC receiving anti-PD-1 (alone or in combination, 1st-4th line) were enrolled at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center and Stanford University Medical Center (n = 61; histology of adenocarcinoma n = 48, squamous n = 9, NSCLC/other n = 4). Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were collected for genomic DNA isolation at pre- and post-treatment (range 3 weeks - 3 months, single post-treatment sample per patient). TCRß was sequenced at survey and deep level via the immunoSEQ platform (Adaptive Biotechnologies). Publicly available TCRß sequences specific for Napsin A (n= 42) were obtained from Berner et al. The frequency of Napsin-A specific TCRß sequences were quantified in each patient sample. Patient demographics, durable clinical benefit (DCB) at 6 months (DCB n = 30, progressive disease n = 31), progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were captured from chart review. High versus low frequency of Napsin A-specific TCRs were defined as above/below the median for PFS and OS analysis. Results: Napsin A-specific clonotypes were significantly enriched within 3 months after treatment in patients achieving DCB from ICI compared to patients without DCB (p = 0.037 post-treatment, n = 41). Patients with a higher frequency of Napsin A-specific TCRs had a significant improvement in OS compared to patients with a lower frequency of these clonotypes (p = 0.006 pre-treatment; p = 0.016 post-treatment). Conclusions: A higher frequency of Napsin A-specific T cell clonotypes is associated with DCB and improved OS with ICI in patients with NSCLC. T cell immune responses recognizing the tumor antigen Napsin A may play a role in shaping ICI responses, a finding that warrants further investigation in larger datasets.

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Abstract Details

Meeting

2024 ASCO Annual Meeting

Session Type

Poster Session

Session Title

Lung Cancer—Non-Small Cell Metastatic

Track

Lung Cancer

Sub Track

Biologic Correlates

Citation

J Clin Oncol 42, 2024 (suppl 16; abstr 8527)

DOI

10.1200/JCO.2024.42.16_suppl.8527

Abstract #

8527

Poster Bd #

391

Abstract Disclosures