Combined tumor and immune signals from genomes or transcriptomes predict outcomes of checkpoint inhibition in melanoma

Samuel S. Freeman, Moshe Sade-Feldman, Jaegil Kim, Chip Stewart, Anna L.K. Gonye, Arvind Ravi, Monica B. Arniella, Irena Gushterova, Thomas J. LaSalle, Emily M. Blaum, Keren Yizhak, Dennie T. Frederick, Tatyana Sharova, Ignaty Leshchiner, Liudmila Elagina, Oliver G. Spiro, Dimitri Livitz, Daniel Rosebrock, François Aguet, Jian Carrot-ZhangGavin Ha, Ziao Lin, Jonathan H. Chen, Michal Barzily-Rokni, Marc R. Hammond, Hans C. Vitzthum von Eckstaedt, Shauna M. Blackmon, Yunxin J. Jiao, Stacey Gabriel, Donald P. Lawrence, Lyn M. Duncan, Anat O. Stemmer-Rachamimov, Jennifer A. Wargo, Keith T. Flaherty, Ryan J. Sullivan, Genevieve M. Boland, Matthew Meyerson, Gad Getz, Nir Hacohen

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

11 Scopus citations

Abstract

Immune checkpoint blockade (CPB) improves melanoma outcomes, but many patients still do not respond. Tumor mutational burden (TMB) and tumor-infiltrating T cells are associated with response, and integrative models improve survival prediction. However, integrating immune/tumor-intrinsic features using data from a single assay (DNA/RNA) remains underexplored. Here, we analyze whole-exome and bulk RNA sequencing of tumors from new and published cohorts of 189 and 178 patients with melanoma receiving CPB, respectively. Using DNA, we calculate T cell and B cell burdens (TCB/BCB) from rearranged TCR/Ig sequences and find that patients with TMBhigh and TCBhigh or BCBhigh have improved outcomes compared to other patients. By combining pairs of immune- and tumor-expressed genes, we identify three gene pairs associated with response and survival, which validate in independent cohorts. The top model includes lymphocyte-expressed MAP4K1 and tumor-expressed TBX3. Overall, RNA or DNA-based models combining immune and tumor measures improve predictions of melanoma CPB outcomes.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number100500
JournalCell Reports Medicine
Volume3
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 15 2022

Keywords

  • T cell receptor
  • TMB
  • cancer genomics
  • cancer immunotherapy
  • immune checkpoint blockade
  • integrative model
  • melanoma
  • melanoma subtype
  • tumor mutational burden

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
  • General Medicine

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