Remodeling of tumor microenvironments by EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors in EGFR-mutant non-small cell lung cancer

Summary: Patients with EGFR mutations exhibit immunosuppressive microenvironments, limiting responsiveness to immunotherapy. We used digital spatial profiling to analyze non-small cell lung carcinomas in 25 patients before and after EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) treatment, including 14 patien...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Soomin Kim, Jaemoon Koh, Tae Min Kim, Songji Oh, Soyeon Kim, Jeonghwan Youk, Miso Kim, Bhumsuk Keam, Yoon Kyung Jeon, Dong-Wan Kim, Dae Seog Heo
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-02-01
Series:iScience
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004224029638
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Summary: Patients with EGFR mutations exhibit immunosuppressive microenvironments, limiting responsiveness to immunotherapy. We used digital spatial profiling to analyze non-small cell lung carcinomas in 25 patients before and after EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) treatment, including 14 patients treated with first-line osimertinib, focusing on CD45-positive immune regions and pan-cytokeratin-positive tumor regions. Osimertinib treatment resulted in altered angiogenic pathways and immune cell proportions, with reduced plasma cells (22.2%–11.7%; p = 0.025) and increased macrophage infiltration (p = 0.145). The most predominant immune subtypes before and after treatment was the interferon-γ (IFN-γ)-dominant C2 subtype and the lymphocyte-depleted C4 subtype. Two patients who showed the opposite pattern, transiting from C4 to C2, had durable responses to subsequent atezolizumab/bevacizumab/carboplatin/paclitaxel treatment. Our results shed light on the immunomodulatory effects of osimertinib treatment and suggest that co-targeting angiogenesis and anti-programmed death (ligand) 1 might be effective in EGFR-TKI-resistant non-small cell lung cancer.
ISSN:2589-0042