Abstract 1541: Heterogeneity of the hormone receptor-positive breast tumor immune microenvironment according to patient’s body mass index
Authors: Nguyen Ha-Linh , Geukens Tatjana , De Schepper Maxim , Van Baelen Karen , Maetens Marion , Zels Gitte , Mahdami Amena , Isnaldi Edoardo , Hatse Sigrid , Verbeke Joke , Matthys Christophe , Thienpont Bernard , Vanderheyden Evy , Van Brussel Thomas , Schepers Rogier , Philips Gino , Boeckx Bram , Lambrechts Diether , Floris Giuseppe , Richard François , Desmedt Christine 
Published: March 2024

Background: Obesity is a risk factor for postmenopausal hormone receptor-positive (HR+) breast cancer (BC) and is associated with poorer outcomes. “Obesity-paradox”, a phenomenon where obesity (BMI ≥ 30) is associated with better outcomes in patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI), has been observed in several cancer types. It is however under-explored in BC, especially HR+ BC. Emerging data from recent trials (KEYNOTE-756 and CheckMate 7FL) have shown the potential benefits of ICI for treating early HR+ BC. This prompted the need for better insights into the biological link between obesity and HR+ BC, particularly its tumor immune microenvironment (TIME).

Patients & Methods: A monocentric cohort of 33 patients (11 lean, 11 overweight, 11 obese) with early HR+ BC was selected for the study, whose tumor tissues were collected and subjected to snRNA-seq. Unsupervised clustering and cluster annotation were performed on the processed data leading to identification of cell types and subtypes. We then performed differential gene expression (DGEA) and gene set enrichment analyses (GSEA) according to BMI category for each of the immune cell types.

Results: We identified a total of 76,773 immune cells belonging to six major cell types, namely B/plasma cell, dendritic cell (DC), mast cell, monocyte/macrophage (mono/macro), T cell, and natural killer (NK) cell. Their proportions varied between patients, however immune cellular composition was not associated with BMI. DGEA and GSEA revealed highly cell type-specific obesity-associated differences in the expression profile of immune cells. Notably, an enrichment of B cell-mediated immune activities, substantiated by the upregulation of Ig genes, was observed in B cells and plasma cells. This was however coupled with an overexpression of the checkpoint BTLA in B cells. CD8+ and CD4+ T cells showed a lower level of activation (higher LEF1, TCF7, lower ANXA1, IL4R), and NK cells a decreased cytokine production (CD96, CD226) and conflicting differential expression of cytotoxic molecules (lower NKG7, higher granzymes). Checkpoint genes such as PDCD1, CTLA4, TIGIT, LAG3, HAVCR2 did not show significant changes in their expression in T/NK cells. Mast cells displayed a downregulation of antigen presenting genes (CD74, HLA-A/B/E). DC and mono/macro populations also exhibited both up- and down-regulation of genes involved in different immune pathways.

Conclusion: Our current data suggested that obesity was associated with multi-directional changes in the immune activities, possibly implying an unresolved inflammation in the HR+ BC tissue. Further investigation incorporating other cell types and their interaction with immune cells in both tumor and matched normal mammary tissues is warranted and on-going, which could provide more understanding of HR+ breast TIME and lead to speculation on therapeutic implications.

Citation Format: Ha-Linh Nguyen, Tatjana Geukens, Maxim De Schepper, Karen Van Baelen, Marion Maetens, Gitte Zels, Amena Mahdami, Edoardo Isnaldi, Sigrid Hatse, Joke Verbeke, Christophe Matthys, Bernard Thienpont, Evy Vanderheyden, Thomas Van Brussel, Rogier Schepers, Gino Philips, Bram Boeckx, Diether Lambrechts, Giuseppe Floris, François Richard, Christine Desmedt. Heterogeneity of the hormone receptor-positive breast tumor immune microenvironment according to patient’s body mass index [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2024; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts); 2024 Apr 5-10; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(6_Suppl):Abstract nr 1541.