Patients with advanced metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) are refractory to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs)^1,2, partly because there are immunosuppressive myeloid cells in tumours^3,4. However, the heterogeneity of myeloid cells has made them difficult to target, making blockade of the colony stimulating factor-1 receptor (CSF1R) clinically ineffective. Here we use single-cell profiling on patient biopsies across the disease continuum and find that a distinct population of tumour-associated macrophages with elevated levels of SPP1 transcripts (SPP1^hi-TAMs) becomes enriched with the progression of prostate cancer to mCRPC. In syngeneic mouse modelling, an analogous macrophage population suppresses CD8⁺ T cell activity in vitro and promotes ICI resistance in vivo. Furthermore, Spp1^hi-TAMs are not responsive to anti-CSF1R antibody treatment. Pathway analysis identifies adenosine signalling as a potential mechanism for SPP1^hi-TAM-mediated immunotherapeutic resistance. Indeed, pharmacological inhibition of adenosine A2A receptors (A2ARs) significantly reverses Spp1^hi-TAM-mediated immunosuppression in CD8⁺ T cells in vitro and enhances CRPC responsiveness to programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) blockade in vivo. Consistent with preclinical results, inhibition of A2ARs using ciforadenant in combination with programmed death 1 ligand 1 (PD-L1) blockade using atezolizumab induces clinical responses in patients with mCRPC. Moreover, inhibiting A2ARs results in a significant decrease in SPP1^hi-TAM abundance in CRPC, indicating that this pathway is involved in both induction and downstream immunosuppression. Collectively, these findings establish SPP1^hi-TAMs as key mediators of ICI resistance in mCRPC through adenosine signalling, emphasizing their importance as both a therapeutic target and a potential biomarker for predicting treatment efficacy.

Zenghua Fan

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