Identification of targets for prostate cancer immunotherapy

Abstract

BACKGROUND: We performed profiling of the immune microenvironment of castration-resistant (CRPC) and castration-sensitive (CSPC) prostate cancer (PC) in order to identify novel targets for immunotherapy. METHODS: PD-L1 and CD3/CD8 immunohistochemistry, PD-L1/2 fluorescent in situ hybridization, tumor mutation burden, microsatellite instability, and RNA-seq of 395 immune-related genes were performed in 19 CRPC and CSPC. Targeted genomic sequencing and fusion analysis were performed in 17 of these specimens. RESULTS: CD276, PVR, and NECTIN2 were highly expressed in PC. Comparison of CRPC versus CSPC and primary versus metastatic tissue revealed the differential expression of immunostimulatory, immunosuppressive, and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related genes. Unsupervised clustering of differentially expressed genes yielded two final clusters best segregated by CRPC and CSPC status. CONCLUSION: CD276 and the alternative checkpoint inhibition PVR/NECTIN2/CD226/TIGIT pathway emerged as relevant to PC checkpoint inhibition target development.