The colourful landscape of immune cells is therapy-dependent

Several types of neoadjuvant treatment are available for rectal cancer patients, with variable effect on the tumour and its microenvironment. Immune cells are a significant part of this microenvironment and the specific prevalence varies according to the therapy administered. Some immune cells are more susceptible to radiation and others are more susceptible to chemotherapy.

Cristina Graham Martinez and her colleagues explored the impact of different therapies on immune cells. The research group, led by professor Iris Nagtegaal from the Pathology department, in collaboration with the Tumour Immunology and the Radiation Oncology department published these interesting results in Frontiers in Immunology, on September 27^th.  

A retrospective cohort was used and with the use of a multiplex panel of several immune markers, they were able to quantify the populations of immune cells. They found that patient groups which had been treated with radiotherapy had a more homogeneous response, whereas patients treated with chemotherapy had heterogeneous responses. Furthermore, they observed how particular immune cells were seemingly unaffected by therapy, while others increased or decreased their population. Knowing which immune cells proliferate or seem to be depleted when triggered by a certain therapy is of extreme interest in this field, as the rise of immunotherapies relies on a full understanding of the immune responses in patients.  

Publication

Graham Martínez C, Barella Y, Kus Öztürk S, Ansems M, Gorris MAJ, van Vliet S, Marijnen CAM, Nagtegaal ID. The immune microenvironment landscape shows treatment-specific differences in rectal cancer patients. Front Immunol. 2022 Sep 27;13:1011498. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.1011498. PMID: 36238289; PMCID: PMC9552175.