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Comparative analysis of the tumor immune-microenvironment of primary and brain metastases of non-small-cell lung cancer reveals organ-specific and EGFR mutation-dependent unique immune landscape

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Abstract

Background

To evaluate the characteristics of the tumor immune-microenvironment in brain metastases of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), we investigated the immunophenotype of primary NSCLC and its brain metastasis.

Methods

Expression profiling of 770 immune-related genes in 28 tissues from primary and brain metastases of NSCLC was performed using the NanoString nCounter PanCancer Immune Profiling Panel. The immune cell profiles were validated by immunohistochemistry of 42 matched samples.

Results

Based on unsupervised clustering and principal component analysis of the immune-related gene expression profile, tumors were primarily clustered according to the involved organ and further grouped according to the EGFR mutation status. Fifty-four genes were significantly differentially expressed between primary and brain metastatic tumors. Clustering using these genes showed that tumors harboring mutated EGFR tended to be grouped together in the brain. Pathway analysis revealed that various immune-related functions involving immune regulation, T cell activity, and chemokines were enriched in primary tumors compared to brain metastases. Diverse immune-related pathways were upregulated in brain metastases of EGFR-mutated compared to EGFR-wild-type adenocarcinoma, but not in primary tumors. The interferon-γ-related gene signature was significantly decreased in brain metastases. The anti-inflammatory markers TOLLIP and HLA-G were upregulated in brain metastases. The proportions of most immune cell subsets were decreased in brain metastases, but those of macrophages and CD56dim-NK-cells were increased, as was the ratios of CD163+M2- to iNOS+M1-macrophages and NCR1+NK-cells to CD3+T cells.

Conclusions

Our findings illustrate the immune landscape of brain metastases from NSCLC and reveal potential therapeutic strategies targeting cellular and non-cellular components of the tumor immune-microenvironment.

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Data availability

The gene-expression data were uploaded on the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo/query/acc.cgi?acc=GSE161116).

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Dr. Yeon Duk Woo (Department of Biomedical Sciences, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea) for manuscript editing.

Funding

This work was supported by the Basic Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) (grant No.: 2020R1A4A1017515) and the Basic Science Research through the NRF funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST) Program (grant No.: NRF-2016R1D1A1B01015964), Republic of Korea.

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Author notes

  1. Yoon Kyung Jeon and Doo Hyun Chung contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, 101 Daehak-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, 03080, Republic of Korea

    Seung Geun Song, Sehui Kim, Jaemoon Koh, Jeemin Yim, Bogyeong Han, Yoon Kyung Jeon & Doo Hyun Chung

  2. Laboratory of Immune Regulation, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Seoul National University College of Medicine, 101 Daehak-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, 03080, Republic of Korea

    Sehui Kim, Jaemoon Koh & Doo Hyun Chung

  3. Department of Pathology, Seoul Metropolitan Government-Seoul National University Boramae Medical Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Young A. Kim

  4. Cancer Research Institute, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Yoon Kyung Jeon

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Contributions

DHC, YKJ and YAK designed and supervised the study. SGS, SK, JK, JY and BH performed experiments and acquired the data. SGS, SK, YAK and YKJ analyzed the results. SGS and YKJ made the figures and tables. SGS, YKJ and DHC wrote the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Yoon Kyung Jeon or Doo Hyun Chung.

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This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of SNUH (No. 1404–102-572) and was performed in accordance with the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki. The requirement for informed consent was waived because of the retrospective nature of the study.

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Song, S.G., Kim, S., Koh, J. et al. Comparative analysis of the tumor immune-microenvironment of primary and brain metastases of non-small-cell lung cancer reveals organ-specific and EGFR mutation-dependent unique immune landscape. Cancer Immunol Immunother 70, 2035–2048 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00262-020-02840-0

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