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360 Reilly Fankhauser et al.
demonstrated that corticosteroid therapy severely reduced peripheral CD4+and CD8+, altered peripheral CD8
+
/Treg ratios, and diminished the efficacy of anti-PD-1 therapy in
peripheral tumors, but not in intracranial tumors [17].
Two critical and unmet needs must be addressed to realize the full potential of immu­notherapies: (1) how do we increase the response rate to immunotherapies? and (2) how do we predict and control off-target toxicities due to immunotherapies? One promising approach to answering these questions comes from studying proteomic biomarkers for cancer immunotherapy. Proteomic analyses of tumor tissues, blood biomarkers, or even the microbiome can help pair a patient with the treatment option that they are most likely to respond to, or a personalized therapy (Fig. 1). After initial treatment, longitudinal monitoring of the patient through proteomic analyses can enable treatment alteration if biomarkers demonstrate early signs of a lack of response or can elucidate targetable pathways to treat immune-related adverse events (Fig. 1). This approach to treatment, driven by proteomic analyses, will ultimately help improve patient outcomes. Here, we will describe advances in proteomic technologies and their applications in investigat­ing and improving cancer immunotherapies.
Fig. 1 Proteomic analyses enable precision medicine. Created with BioRender.com.
Before discussing proteomic biomarker technologies for immunotherapy, it is impor-
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tant to define the different types of biomarkers and understand what makes a good bio­marker. Biomarkers can be predictive, diagnostic, or prognostic. Predictive biomarkers can be used to “predict” the effect of a therapeutic intervention on a patient and indicate how likely a patient is to benefit from a given treatment [18]. Predictive biomarkers can be used to determine specific, actionable characteristics in cancers, such as the presence of a BRAF V600E mutation in melanoma [19]. Using a therapeutic specifically in patients harboring this driver mutation may help reduce the toxicity associated with traditional cytotoxic chemotherapies, improve treatment responses, and spare the patient from undergoing treatments that they are unlikely to benefit from. Diagnostic biomarkers are used to narrow down a diagnosis for a patient. A classic example of a diagnostic bio­marker in medicine is prostate-specific antigen (PSA), used to diagnose prostate cancer
[20]. A prognostic biomarker gives information about a patient’s overall outcome regard-
less of therapy [18]. Some biomarkers can be both predictive and prognostic [21]. HER2 amplification in breast cancer, for example, is prognostic for a worse overall response but predictive of a positive response to treatment with anti-HER2 mAbs or tyrosine kinase inhibitors [22].
With the rise of precision medicine and the increased role of companion diagnostic tests in shaping clinical care, it is increasingly important that biomarkers used to direct care are analytically and clinically validated and demonstrate clinical utility [23]. Analyt­ical validity is determined by how reliably and accurately an assay measures the analyte of interest [24]. Clinical validity is determined by how reliably an assay divides a population into two or more groups based on expected treatment outcome or biological character­istics [24]. An assay holds clinical utility if it significantly improves clinical outcomes or aids in patient management and clinical decision making [24]. Ideally, assays to test for these biomarkers should be inexpensive both financially and in terms of time and exper­tise required to interpret the data to be widely integrated into clinical practice (i.e., the technology should be accessible to community hospitals and major academic health cen­ters alike) [23]. As we discuss various biomarkers and the analytic techniques used to interrogate them, we should evaluate them through the lens of analytic validity, clinical validity, clinical utility, cost, and complexity.
Proteomic analyses are by far the most popular tool for clinical tests and assays. Study­ing the proteome has a distinct advantage over transcriptomic analyses in that the corre­lation between mRNA abundance and protein expression is only about 40% [25, 26]. Additionally, many biomarkers relevant to immunotherapy are cytokines and other protein-based signaling molecules; thus, studying their expression relies upon proteomic analysis techniques. The preferred targets for many drugs, including checkpoint inhi­bitors, are proteins; investigating these proteins and their interactions with drugs is par­amount. The proteome also provides more cellular information than the genome; while the human genome has approximately 20,000 genes, researchers propose that the human
361Proteomic biomarker technology for cancer immunotherapy
362 Reilly Fankhauser et al.
proteome consists of several million protein variants, a staggering number that emphasizes the need for precise and accurate protein detection methods [27, 28]. Due to SNPs, splice variants, and other posttranslational modifications, one gene does not necessarily equal one protein [29]. Therefore, one can acquire significantly more biologically relevant information from a comprehensive analysis of the proteome than the genome.
It is also important to highlight the limitations of protein analysis. Unlike genomics, which benefits from nucleotide amplification to allow for signal amplification, protein identification methods cannot currently amplify peptide sequences, relying on initial sample input quantity. This can limit the detection of rare proteins and proteins that degrade quickly. Another challenge in proteomics is the complexity of the sequence space; the genome consists of four complementary base pairs, yet the proteome consists of 20 standard amino acids arranged to form chains of peptides leading to increased complexity and requiring additional computational power to analyze [30].
2. Proteomic technologies
2.1 Immunohistochemical and immunofluorescence approaches
The FDA-approved biomarkers for predicting response to pembrolizumab (anti-PD-1) are PD-L1 expression and mismatch repair (MMR) deficiency or high microsatellite instability. Tumor PD-L1 expression, as determined by standard immunohistochemistry (IHC) analysis of FFPE tumor tissue, was one of the earliest predictive biomarkers inves­tigated. In a landmark study by Topalian et al., patients with >5% PD-L1 expression had a 36% overall response rate while patients with <5% PD-L1 expression had no response
[31]. Due to the inextricable role of PD-L1 in cancer development and the mechanism of
anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapeutics, PD-L1 expression has been extensively studied as a pre­dictive biomarker. As a result, five different testing platforms utilizing different antibody clones and staining platforms have been developed. These platforms use different scoring systems and cutoffs to determine PD-L1 positivity [32]. Concordantly, data relying solely on PD-L1 expression status in the tumor to predict response to anti-PD-1 inhibition has been mixed [32, 33]. These mixed outcomes are likely due to differences in antibody clones, slide preparation and staining strategies, reliability of reader/pathologist interpre­tation, scoring mechanisms, and tumor heterogeneity. Thus, relying solely on PD-L1 expression status as a predictive biomarker is controversial.
Beyond PD-L1 expression, microsatellite instability and MMR deficiency have been FDA-approved as predictive biomarkers that invoke treatment with pembrolizumab. Microsatellite instability is determined through PCR by measuring the length of repet­itive areas of DNA known as microsatellites and comparing these lengths in tumor and normal tissue. Five microsatellite regions have been validated as targets for testing micro­satellite instability—BAT25, BAT26, NR-21, NR-24, and NR-27 [34]. If two or more
out of the five markers show instability (different size repeats in tumor relative to normal
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tissue), it is classified as microsatellite instability-high [34]. The tumor tissue is classified as microsatellite instability-low if only one of the five markers shows instability [35]. The distinction between microsatellite instability-low and microsatellite instability-stable requires testing additional markers [35, 36].
More pertinent to proteomic technologies, MMR deficiency is determined through IHC as the loss of expression of one of the four MMR proteins; MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, or PMS2 [35]. MMR deficiency is a tissue-agnostic test. It was demonstrated to be pre­dictive of response to pembrolizumab in a variety of cancers, including colorectal cancer (CRC), ampullary cancer, cholangiocarcinoma, endometrial cancer, gastroesophageal cancer, neuroendocrine tumors, osteosarcomas, pancreatic cancer, prostate cancer, can­cer of the small intestine, thyroid cancer, and carcinomas of unknown primary [37,38]. Since MMR deficiency was demonstrated to be predictive of response to anti-PD-1 ther­apy in numerous cancers, anti-PD-1 therapy was granted FDA approval for patients with MMR-deficient or microsatellite instability-high, unresectable or metastatic, solid tumors that have progressed on prior therapies [39].
ICB therapies rely on a complex interplay between tumor cells, immune cells, the tumor microenvironment, and other environmental factors including the microbiome
[40]. Therefore it makes sense that a single biomarker is likely insufficient to stratify
patient outcomes completely, and approaches that analyze numerous parameters are most likely to be clinically valid. For example, tumors that express PD-L1 and are infiltrated with CD4
+
and CD8+T cells are most likely to benefit from PD-L1 inhibitors [41]. Approaches that utilize both PD-L1 expressions (as determined through immunohisto­chemistry) and lymphocytic infiltration in the tumor (as determined through analysis of standard H&E stained tumor sections) may be the most parsimonious, clinically useful tool for predicting response to ICB [32].
Quantitative immunofluorescence using multiple markers that do not spectrally overlap
to stain the same tissue section simultaneously may help overcome the challenges posed by reliance on a single marker. In a recent example, Johnson et al. utilized quantitative spatial profiling to determine that a close interaction between PD-L1 and PD-1 and/or expression of IDO1 and HLA-DR were predictive of response to anti-PD-1 therapy [42].Individual biomarkers or other combinations of markers were not able to differentiate responders from nonresponders. Translating this approach into clinical practice is highly feasible—it requires only a few tumor tissue sections, has high predictive capacity, and scoring is per­formed objectively through automated scoring systems and visual verification.
363Proteomic biomarker technology for cancer immunotherapy
2.2 Multiplexed immunohistochemistry (mIHC)
Multiplexed immunohistochemistry (mIHC) allows the evaluation of numerous bio­markers within the same tissue sample, which may better capture the complex nature
364 Reilly Fankhauser et al.
of cancer tissues and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs). These approaches allow for the quantitative measurement of numerous proteins’ expression levels while retaining spatial information [43]. This can ultimately be used to determine the activation states and spatial distribution of immune cells within a tissue specimen and their interaction with tumor cells [43]. Such information is critical for classifying tumors and predicting clinical outcomes [44–48].
Several variations of immunofluorescence (IF) and mIHC have been developed in
recent years, as reviewed by Tan et al. [43]. The major differences between technologies are in the detection chemistry and the methods used to quench the signal and/or strip off previous rounds of antibodies. The predominant detection methods include HRP­conjugated antibodies developed with a chromogenic die, metal isotope tagged anti­bodies, fluorophore-conjugated tyramide molecules (which react with HRP to generate an antigen-associated fluorescence signal), and oligonucleotide-conjugates that can be cleaved and counted to derive expression data [43].
mIHC approaches have been used to analyze immune contexture in immunotherapy-
treated tumors. The resulting analysis has informed prognostic and predictive parameters for various cancer types. In one example, Tsujikawa et al. developed two mIHC panels with 12 markers each to analyze the immune microenvironment of head and neck squa­mous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) [49]. The third panel of 11 markers was used to determine the functional/activation states of immune cells within tumors [49]. The authors were able to identify three classes of HNSCC tissue, including lymphoid-inflamed, myeloid-inflamed, and hypo-inflamed. The myeloid­inflamed subgroup was associated with the shortest overall survival (OS), regardless of HPV status. The authors also demonstrated different immune signatures based on HPV status. HPV-positive tissues had high CD8 ciated with high natural killer cells, DC-SIGN
+
T cells, and HPV-negative tissues were asso-
+
dendritic cells, and CD66b+granulocytes.
The authors also investigated PDAC tissue responses to GVAX, a tumor vaccine containing GM-CSF-secreting cancer cells. They described two subcategories of PDAC tissue with differing levels of myeloid cell densities, but not lymphoid cell densities. Immunosuppressive profiles dominated the high-myeloid group and were associated with a shorter OS. The authors also determined that the high-myeloid PDAC classes were associated with a PD-1
+
, EOMES+, CD8+T cell compartment with low Ki67 expression, indicating exhausted T cell function. Lastly, the authors demonstrated that PD-L1 expression on myeloid cells was associated with CD8
+
cytotoxic T lymphocyte activation and a favorable prognosis following GVAX therapy. In contrast, the low proliferation status of CD8
+
T cells and low activation status of granzyme B were
associated with shorter OS in response.
In summary, this study highlights the immense clinical potential for such technolo­gies. The tissue requirement is minimized by performing iterative rounds of staining on the same section, which is critical in the clinical setting where tumor specimens are scarce
[50, 51]. While this approach utilizes standard wet-lab equipment and conventionally
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processed FFPE tissues, current limitations include lengthy processing times during the iterative staining, signal development, image acquisition, signal removal, and heat stripping stages, as well as complex computational analysis of slide images. Advances in the automation of the staining and imaging processes and automated analysis of slide scans will help realize the clinical potential of this technology. Recently, the approach described in Tsujikawa et al. was expanded upon to enable the quantitative assessment of 29 biomarkers in a single FFPE tissue section [52].
2.3 Quantitative multiplexed fluorescence immunohistochemistry
Quantitative multiplexed fluorescence immunohistochemistry, combined with RNA analysis, has been successfully utilized to investigate the immune contexture of testicular germ cell tumors (TGCTs) [53]. TGCT responds quite well to platinum-based chemo­therapy, yet a subset of patients are refractory to treatment or relapse and succumb to the disease [54]. Therefore, there is a strong motivation to pursue developing additional lines of therapy to treat TGCT. Siska et al. assessed PD-1, PD-L1, CD3, CD4, CD8, CD25, and FOXP3 expression in 35 TGCT samples (11 seminomas and 24 non­seminomas) using quantitative multiplexed fluorescence immunohistochemistry [53]. In this approach, secondary antibodies are conjugated to HRP, which reacts with fluorophore-conjugated tyramine molecules. This reaction amplifies the fluorescence sig­nal, enabling the detection of low-abundance targets. Slides were imaged, then analyzed using AQUAnalysis software. Seminomas displayed increased CD3 decreased Tregs, increased PD-L1 expression, and increased spatial interaction of PD-1/PD-L1 compared to nonseminomas. Transcriptional profiling demonstrated increased expression of T cell markers, as well as cancer-testis antigens (CTAs) in seminomas, and high neutrophil and macrophage signatures in nonseminomas. T cell and NK signatures decreased with the disease stage, while Treg, neutrophil, mast cell, and macrophage signatures increased with the disease stage in both seminomas and nonseminomas. CTA expression, neutrophil, and CD8
+
/Treg signatures correlated with recurrence-free survival. Given the high expression of CTAs, PD-1/PD-L1 interaction, and immune infiltration in both seminoma tumors and treatment-refractory non­seminoma tumors, the authors suggest these patients have a strong potential to respond to anti-PD-1/anti-PD-L1 therapy, particularly in earlier stages [53]. Subsequent data from clinical trials investigating the use of ICB agents in cisplatin-refractory TGCTs has been mixed, as reviewed in Kalavska et al. [55]. Therefore, additional studies must be carried out to understand the predictive markers for response to immunotherapy in treatment­refractory TGCTs. Combining immunotherapy with cisplatin-based chemotherapy beginning immunotherapy in earlier stages of treatment may be warranted.
+
T cell infiltration,
365Proteomic biomarker technology for cancer immunotherapy
366 Reilly Fankhauser et al.
2.4 Cyclic immunofluorescence
Cyclic immunofluorescence (CyCIF) is an alternative to mIHC that utilizes repetitive rounds of staining with a fluorophore-conjugated primary antibody, imaging, and fluo­rophore quenching reactions. This approach addresses some concerns about colorimetric IHC readouts, including harsh stripping methods and the fact that developing a signal using enzymatic amplification to produce diamino-benzidine (DAB) (or similar) precip­itates is inherently less quantitative than fluorescence signals and may poorly correlate with target antigen concentration [56, 57].
The initial demonstration of tissue-cyclic immunofluorescence (t-CyCIF) included an
analysis of 61 different targets in single FFPE tissue sections and was compatible with DNA fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and standard H&E stains [58]. The approach has subsequently been demonstrated with various tissue types and antibodies [56]. Recent advances in CyCIF technologies have reduced slide processing time burdens. McMahon et al. utilized oligonucleotide-conjugated primary antibodies to bind to protein epitopes
[59]. Subsequently, a complementary single-stranded oligonucleotide conjugated to a
conventional fluorophore is introduced that binds specifically to its target antibody. After imaging on a conventional fluorescence microscope, the fluorescence signal is removed by applying UV light that breaks a photocleavable linker between the fluorophore and oligo sequence. In this approach, all oligo-conjugated antibodies are incubated simultaneously, preventing steric hindrance and increasing speed. Signal removal by UV treatment preserves tissue integrity and antigenicity over multiple staining cycles. This concept was demonstrated with 14 color imaging of FFPE breast cancer sections [59].
CODEX (codetection by indexing) is a similar technology that utilizes DNA-
barcoded antibodies, except the reporters (fluorescent dNTP analogs) are specifically bound to DNA targets using an in situ polymerization-based indexing technique [60]. This approach has been utilized to compare the immune architecture of normal and lupus mouse spleens using a 30-antibody panel [60]. In future studies, CODEX may be used to interrogate tissue responses to immunotherapy, though antibody-oligo technology may have a more parsimonious and less laborious workflow, making it more translatable to clinical applications.
Advances in CyCIF technology make the clinical utilization of these approaches to stratify patient responses to immunotherapies far more realistic. CyCIF approaches are well poised to address clinical necessities in cancer therapies, including differentiating TIL subsets, exploring tumor heterogeneity, and understanding the tumor microenvi­ronment’s role in predicting response to immunotherapy [61].
2.5 Nanostring digital spatial profiler (DSP)
Nanostring’s digital spatial profiler (DSP) allows for the digital readout of up to 96 protein or RNA targets with spatial resolution in FFPE tissues [62]. To perform the analysis, the
user begins by staining slides with three fluorescently labeled antibodies and a nuclear
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marker to define morphological regions of interest [62]. Simultaneously, antibody or RNA probes coupled to UV photocleavable oligonucleotide tags are incubated. After selecting the desired region of interest, the oligonucleotide tags are liberated using UV light, collected with a microcapillary tube, and counted using the nCounter plat­form. Oligo counts act as a proxy for expression levels and are mapped back to their origin to derive a spatially resolved profile of analyte abundance [62]. The region of interest is scalable and can range from 650 to 10 μm in diameter (roughly a single cell) [63].
The instrument is gaining popularity in the research community due to the tissue­sparing nature of the technique, which enables downstream analysis, a high degree of automation, flexibility in deciding regions of interest, and the ability to profile both RNA and protein. Table 1 summarizes recent demonstrations of nanostring DSP tech­nology that contribute to the investigation of responses to immunotherapy.
However, there are some limitations to DSP technology, predominantly on resolu­tion and the limits of detection. Even with the DSP’s smallest region of interest (10 μm diameter), mapping expression data back to this region renders significantly less spatial resolution than microscopy-based (IF, IHC) techniques. Only the three fluorescent mor­phology markers used to define the regions of interest have a truly single-cell resolution. The remaining targets in the panel are mapped back to a much broader region without any visualization. This leads to a loss of spatial information about the distribution of cells within the region of interest and their respective expression levels.
As for limits of detection, to generate a sufficient signal for successful analysis, one must often profile the area to include at least 20 rare cells of interest, though the lower limit for the number of cells profiled is different for RNA and protein analysis, and is
367Proteomic biomarker technology for cancer immunotherapy
Table 1 Recent publications utilizing the Nanostring DSP to investigate responses to immunotherapy.
What they demonstrated using DSP
Title Year Cancer type(s)
LAG3: a novel immune checkpoint
expressed by multiple lymphocyte subsets in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma [64]
2020 Large diffuse
B-cell lymphoma (LDBCL)
technology
Utilized the DSP, standard
immunohistochemistry, flow cytometry, and the nCounter platform for analysis of RNA extracted from FFPE tissues to demonstrate LAG3 expression on malignant B-cells and near universal coexpression with PD-1 and TIM3 on CTLs and
+
Tregs, indicating potential
CD4 clinical efficacy from a combination blockade of PD-1 and LAG3
Continued
368 Reilly Fankhauser et al.
Table 1 Recent publications utilizing the Nanostring DSP to investigate responses to immunotherapycontd
What they demonstrated using DSP
Title Year Cancer type(s)
technology
Biomarkers associated with
beneficial PD-1 checkpoint blockade in nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) identified using high-plex digital spatial profiling
[65]
Immune landscapes predict
chemotherapy resistance and immunotherapy response in acute myeloid leukemia
[66]
Linking transcriptomic and imaging
data defines features of a favorable tumor immune microenvironment and identifies a combination biomarker for primary melanoma [67]
High-plex predictive marker
discovery for melanoma immunotherapy-treated patients using digital spatial profiling ([68])
Neoadjuvant vs adjuvant
ipilimumab plus nivolumab in macroscopic stage III melanoma
[69]
2020 NSCLC Analyzed specimens from
67 patients treated with anti-PD­1 and demonstrated that high CD56 and CD4 expression on CD45 cells was associated with increased overall and progression free survival. High expression of VISTA and CD127 in the tumor compartment was associated with resistance to immunot herapy
2020 AML Utilized immune gene profiling and
the DSP to demonstrate a high IFN-gamma signature was predictive of patients likely to respond to flotetuzum ab, a bispecific antibody that targets CD3 and CD123
2020 Cutaneous
melanoma
Utilized DSP and gene expression
profiling using the nCounter platform to demonstrate that combining the CD8 to macrophage ratio with an IFN­based gene signature stratifies patient prognosis. Notably, the high risk group may benefit from adjuvant combination immunotherapies
2019 NSCLC,
cutaneous melanoma
Demonstrated that DSP highly
agreed with the AQUA method of quantitative immunofluorescence. They also identified 26 biomarkers associated with response and survival including PD-L1 expression on macrophages, but not melanocytes. This demonstrates the discover y potential of the DSP
2018 Cutaneous
melanoma
Demonstrated that patients with
relapsed melanoma have lower pretreatment levels of B2M, PD-L1, and CD3 in tumor­enriched regions of interest
Table 1 Recent publications utilizing the Nanostring DSP to investigate responses to
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immunotherapycontd
What they demonstrated using DSP
Title Year Cancer type(s)
technology
369Proteomic biomarker technology for cancer immunotherapy
Neoadjuvant immune checkpoint
blockade in high-risk resectable melanoma [70]
Phase Ib/II trial testing combined
radiofrequency ablation and ipilimumab in uveal melanoma (SECIRA-UM) [71]
B cells and tertiary lymphoid
structures promote immunotherapy response [72]
Tertiary lymphoid structures
improve immunotherapy and survival in melanoma [73]
2018 Cutaneous
melanoma
2020 Uveal
melanoma
2020 Cutaneous
melanoma
2020 Cutaneous
melanoma
Identified immune correlates of
response to ICB including including: (A) Higher lymphoid infiltrates
in responders to both adju­vant nivolumab and ipilimumab + nivolumab
(B) More clonal and diverse
T cell infiltrates in responders to nivolumab monotherapy
Explained the lack of response to
ipilimumab plus radiofrequency ablation by a weak induction of inflammation, counteracted by induction of IDO, FOXP3 (Tregs), CD68, and CD163 (TAMS). The patients with a longer OS and PFS had higher expression of markers of immune infiltration including CD45, CD4, and CD8
Combined data from the DSP,
RNA-sequencing, and ma ss cytometry to characterize B and T cells in melanoma tumors with and without tertiary lymphoid structures (TLS). Discovered that tumors from patients responding to immune checkpoint blockade had clonally expanded and memory-switched B cells
Investigated melanoma tumors with
and without tertiary lymphoid structures and determined that infiltrating T cells in tumors without TLS were dysfunctional, therefore, adaptive immune responses may be partly driven by B cells in response to immunotherapy