Project description:Brain metastases are the most common tumor of the brain with a dismal prognosis. A fraction of patients with brain metastasis benefit from treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) and the degree and phenotype of the immune cell infiltration has been used to predict response to ICI. However, the anatomical location of brain lesions limits access to tumor material to characterize the immune phenotype. Here, we characterize immune cells present in brain lesions and matched cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) using single-cell RNA sequencing combined with T cell receptor genotyping. Tumor immune infiltration and specifically CD8+ T cell infiltration can be discerned through the analysis of the CSF. Consistently, identical T cell receptor clonotypes are detected in brain lesions and CSF, confirming cell exchange between these compartments. The analysis of immune cells of the CSF can provide a non-invasive alternative to predict the response to ICI, as well as identify the T cell receptor clonotypes present in brain metastasis.
Project description:BackgroundElevated basal cortisol levels are present in women with primary and metastatic breast cancer. Although cortisol's potential role in breast-to-brain metastasis has yet to be sufficiently studied, prior evidence indicates that it functions as a double-edged sword-cortisol induces breast cancer metastasis in vivo, but strengthens the blood-brain-barrier (BBB) to protect the brain from microbes and peripheral immune cells.AimsIn this study, we provide a novel examination on whether cortisol's role in tumor invasiveness eclipses its supporting role in strengthening the CNS barriers. We expanded our study to include the blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier (BCSFB), an underexamined site of tumor entry.Methods and resultsUtilizing in vitro BBB and BCSFB models to measure barrier strength in the presence of hydrocortisone (HC). We established that lung tumor cells migrate through both CNS barriers equally while breast tumors cells preferentially migrate through the BCSFB. Furthermore, HC treatment increased breast-to-brain metastases (BBM) but not primary breast tumor migratory capacity. When examining the transmigration of breast cancer cells across the BCSFB, we demonstrate that HC induces increased traversal of BBM but not primary breast cancer. We provide evidence that HC increases tightness of the BCSFB akin to the BBB by upregulating claudin-5, a tight junction protein formerly acknowledged as exclusive to the BBB.ConclusionOur findings indicate, for the first time that increased cortisol levels facilitate breast-to-brain metastasis through the BCSFB-a vulnerable point of entry which has been typically overlooked in brain metastasis. Our study suggests cortisol plays a pro-metastatic role in breast-to-brain metastasis and thus caution is needed when using glucocorticoids to treat breast cancer patients.
Project description:Introduction: The incidence of brain metastases in cancer patients is increasing, with lung and breast cancer being the most common sources. Despite advancements in targeted therapies, the prognosis remains poor, highlighting the importance to investigate the underlying mechanisms in brain metastases. The aim of this study was to investigate the differences in the molecular mechanisms involved in brain metastasis of breast and lung cancers. In addition, we aimed to identify cancer lineage-specific druggable targets in the brain metastasis. Methods: To that aim, a cohort of 44 FFPE tissue samples, including 22 breast cancer and 22 lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) and their matched-paired brain metastases were collected. Targeted gene expression profiles of primary tumors were compared to their matched-paired brain metastases samples using nCounter PanCancer IO 360™ Panel of NanoString technologies. Pathway analysis was performed using gene set analysis (GSA) and gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA). The validation was performed by using Immunohistochemistry (IHC) to confirm the expression of immune checkpoint inhibitors. Results: Our results revealed the significant upregulation of cancer-related genes in primary tumors compared to their matched-paired brain metastases (adj. p ≤ 0.05). We found that upregulated differentially expressed genes in breast cancer brain metastasis (BM-BC) and brain metastasis from lung adenocarcinoma (BM-LUAD) were associated with the metabolic stress pathway, particularly related to the glycolysis. Additionally, we found that the upregulated genes in BM-BC and BM-LUAD played roles in immune response regulation, tumor growth, and proliferation. Importantly, we identified high expression of the immune checkpoint VTCN1 in BM-BC, and VISTA, IDO1, NT5E, and HDAC3 in BM-LUAD. Validation using immunohistochemistry further supported these findings. Conclusion: In conclusion, the findings highlight the significance of using matched-paired samples to identify cancer lineage-specific therapies that may improve brain metastasis patients outcomes.
Project description:This bulk mRNA data was generated using the Nanostring ncounter platform using an io360 pancancer panel of 900 genes as part of a wider project which included spatial transcriptomic data generated using the Nanostring GeoMx platform. In this study we compared tissue surgical resected from patients with colorectal cancer and liver metastases.
Project description:The tumor microenvironment in brain metastases is characterized by high myeloid cell content with immune-suppressive and cancer-permissive functions. Moreover, brain metastases induce the recruitment of lymphocytes. Despite their presence, T cell-directed therapies fail to elicit effective anti-tumor immune responses. Here we seek to evaluate the applicability of radio-immunotherapy to modulate tumor immunity and overcome inhibitory effects that diminish anti-cancer activity. Radiotherapy-induced immune modulation resulted in an increase in cytotoxic T cell numbers and prevented the induction of lymphocyte-mediated immune suppression. Radio-immunotherapy led to significantly improved tumor control with prolonged median survival in experimental breast-to-brain metastases. However, long-term efficacy was not observed. Recurrent brain metastases showed accumulation of blood-borne PD-L1+ myeloid cells after radio-immunotherapy indicating the establishment of an immune-suppressive environment to counteract re-activated T cell responses. This finding was further supported by transcriptional analyses indicating a crucial role for monocyte-derived macrophages in mediating immune-suppression and regulating T cell function. Therefore, selective targeting of immune suppressive functions of myeloid cells is expected to be critical for improved therapeutic efficacy of radio-immunotherapy in brain metastases.
Project description:Diffuse gliomas are the most common malignant brain tumours in adults and include glioblastomas and World Health Organization (WHO) grade II and grade III tumours (sometimes referred to as lower-grade gliomas). Genetic tumour profiling is used to classify disease and guide therapy1,2, but involves brain surgery for tissue collection; repeated tumour biopsies may be necessary for accurate genotyping over the course of the disease3-10. While the detection of circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) in the blood of patients with primary brain tumours remains challenging11,12, sequencing of ctDNA from the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) may provide an alternative way to genotype gliomas with lower morbidity and cost13,14. We therefore evaluated the representation of the glioma genome in CSF from 85 patients with gliomas who underwent a lumbar puncture because they showed neurological signs or symptoms. Here we show that tumour-derived DNA was detected in CSF from 42 out of 85 patients (49.4%) and was associated with disease burden and adverse outcome. The genomic landscape of glioma in the CSF included a broad spectrum of genetic alterations and closely resembled the genomes of tumour biopsies. Alterations that occur early during tumorigenesis, such as co-deletion of chromosome arms 1p and 19q (1p/19q codeletion) and mutations in the metabolic genes isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) or IDH21,2, were shared in all matched ctDNA-positive CSF-tumour pairs, whereas growth factor receptor signalling pathways showed considerable evolution. The ability to monitor the evolution of the glioma genome through a minimally invasive technique could advance the clinical development and use of genotype-directed therapies for glioma, one of the most aggressive human cancers.
Project description:Brain metastases are critical for outcomes and quality of life in almost 50% of oncological patients, generally associated with a poor short-term prognosis. Early or preventive diagnosis of this complication represents an unmet need. There is a necessity of discovering new biomarkers that could aid to predict disease outcome. In this study, we analyzed plasma circulating extracellular vesicles (EVs) from a cohort of 92 patients with different solid tumors (lung, breast, kidney cancer and melanoma) and found that newly diagnosed patients with brain metastases presented lower number of circulating particles and a higher protein concentration in small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) compared to patients without brain metastases and healthy controls. Out of all groups analyzed, melanoma patients with brain metastases presented decreased STAT3 activation and increased PD-L1 levels in circulating sEVs compared to patients without central nervous system metastases. The data presented in this work suggest that circulating sEVs may represent the immunosuppressive status of newly diagnosed brain metastases characterized by the reduced phospho-STAT3 (pSTAT3) and increased PD-L1, although the origin of these molecules found in circulating sEVs remains to be uncovered.