Neoantigen-reactive CD8+ T cells affect clinical outcome of adoptive cell therapy with tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in melanoma

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  • Nikolaj Pagh Kristensen
  • Christina Heeke
  • Siri A. Tvingsholm
  • Annie Borch
  • Arianna Draghi
  • Michael D. Crowther
  • Ibel Carri
  • Kamilla K. Munk
  • Jeppe Sejerø Holm
  • Anne Mette Bjerregaard
  • Amalie Kai Bentzen
  • Andrea M. Marquard
  • Zoltan Szallasi
  • Nicholas McGranahan
  • Rikke Andersen
  • Morten Nielsen
  • Göran B. Jönsson
  • dqp123, dqp123
  • Svane, Inge Marie
  • Sine Reker Hadrup

BACKGROUND. Neoantigen-driven recognition and T cell–mediated killing contribute to tumor clearance following adoptive cell therapy (ACT) with tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs). Yet how diversity, frequency, and persistence of expanded neoepitope-specific CD8+ T cells derived from TIL infusion products affect patient outcome is not fully determined. METHODS. Using barcoded pMHC multimers, we provide a comprehensive mapping of CD8+ T cells recognizing neoepitopes in TIL infusion products and blood samples from 26 metastatic melanoma patients who received ACT. RESULTS. We identified 106 neoepitopes within TIL infusion products corresponding to 1.8% of all predicted neoepitopes. We observed neoepitope-specific recognition to be virtually devoid in TIL infusion products given to patients with progressive disease outcome. Moreover, we found that the frequency of neoepitope-specific CD8+ T cells in TIL infusion products correlated with increased survival and that neoepitope-specific CD8+ T cells shared with the infusion product in posttreatment blood samples were unique to responders of TIL-ACT. Finally, we found that a transcriptional signature for lymphocyte activity within the tumor microenvironment was associated with a higher frequency of neoepitope-specific CD8+ T cells in the infusion product. CONCLUSIONS. These data support previous case studies of neoepitope-specific CD8+ T cells in melanoma and indicate that successful TIL-ACT is associated with an expansion of neoepitope-specific CD8+ T cells. FUNDING. NEYE Foundation; European Research Council; Lundbeck Foundation Fellowship; Carlsberg Foundation.

Original languageEnglish
Article number150535
JournalJournal of Clinical Investigation
Volume132
Issue number2
Pages (from-to)1-16
ISSN0021-9738
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
Copyright: © 2022, Kristensen et al.

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