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The Dynamic and Transient Immune Microenvironment in Locally Advanced Esophageal Adenocarcinoma Post Chemoradiation

R. Kelly, A. Zaidi, M. Smith, A. Omstead, Juliann E. Kosovec, D. Matsui, Samantha A. Martin, Christina DiCarlo et al.

Annals of Surgery, 2017

96 citations

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the impact of chemoradiation on the immune microenvironment to influence and optimally design future neoadjuvant clinical trials. Summary Background Data: Programmed death (PD)-1 inhibitors in metastatic gastroesophageal cancer have demonstrated response rates of approximately 25% in programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1+) tumors. Unfortunately, the majority of patients do not respond. Therefore, a rationale strategy of combining immunotherapeutic agents with chemoradiation in earlier stage esophageal cancer may prevent metastatic disease in patients. Methods: To determine the effects of chemoradiation on resected esophageal adenocarcinomas, we examined the immune microenvironment pre- and post-chemoradiation using immunohistochemistry, quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), and functional analysis of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes. Additionally, to assess the duration and dependency of radiation-induced PD-L1 upregulation, a surgical rat reflux model of esophageal adenocarcinoma is used. First, tumor-bearing animals were dosed with single-fraction 13Gy or 16Gy radiation to determine safety, dose correlation, and PD-L1 upregulation using qRT-PCR post-radiation. Next, longitudinal PD-L1 expression levels within individual animals were determined using serial endoscopic biopsies at baseline, 1, 5, and 9 weeks post 16Gy radiation. Results: The majority of cancers displayed enhanced interferon &ggr; and…

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