头颈部鳞状细胞癌中组织驻留记忆 T 细胞与炎性肿瘤微环境及预后改善相关

Tumor-infiltrating T cell (TIL) is a major cell type involved in tumor eradication in the tumor microenvironment (TME). Among TILs, tissue-resident memory T cells (T RM s) have been recognized as a subset capable of continuous immunosurveillance to afford long-term immunity. In the present study, we comprehensively profiled T RM in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).

We analyzed RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) data obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Based on the gene expression of CD69 and CD4/CD8A, we identified T RM -enriched patients and evaluated their clinical and biological significance. In addition, we analyzed peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) obtained from 60 patients with HNSCC to evaluate the presence of T RM -like cells in the peripheral circulation.

TCGA analysis revealed that T RM -enriched tumors correlated with early T factor, human papillomavirus-positive status, the proportion of oropharynx lesion, upregulated inflammatory pathways, upregulation of immunostimulatory and immune checkpoint molecule genes, and favorable overall survival. Moreover, we clarified the presence of CD69 + T RM -like cells that highly express PD-1 and TIM-3 in the peripheral circulation of patients with HNSCC.

We highlighted the clinical and transcriptomic significance of T RM in patients with HNSCC. Further characterization of T RM could lead to the development of novel biomarkers, especially for immune checkpoint therapies.