Spatial predictors of response to neoadjuvant therapy in TNBC

IMMUcan is a European public-private effort to generate molecular and cellular profiling data of the human tumor microenvironment (TME) from up to 3,000 patients. Within the context IMMUcan, Dr Andrea Joaquin Garcia (Institut Jules Bordet, Brussels, Belgium) uses RNA sequencing and imaging mass cytometry (IMC) to take a deep dive into the tumor microenvironment of triple negative breast cancers (TNBC). In a poster presented at ESMO 2024, these technologies were used to explore potential associations between spatial IMC patterns, molecular TNBC subtypes, and a response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. In this video, Dr Garcia shares the key take-aways of this research with Dr Elisa Agostinetto (Institut Jules Bordet, Brussels, Belgium).

For this analysis, matched baseline RNA-seq and IMC data were available for 73 cases. These TNBC patients were all treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy and their pathological complete response (pCR) status was available. Interestingly, a spatial interface between mural cells and immune cells, including macrophages and dendritic cells, proved to be associated with a lower likelihood for a pCR. In contrast, however, a spatial interface involving plasma cells and natural killer cells in contact with tumour areas significantly predicted for a pCR. 

As such, these findings emphasize the importance of spatial patterns as a means to predict a pCR to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with TNBC. This illustrates how a better understanding of complex spatial interactions among cells can enhance our predictive accuracy and improve therapeutic strategies for cancer patients.