Abstract 5149: Extracellular matrix remodeling in metastatic mismatch repair deficient endometrial cancer:Implications for immune checkpoint inhibitor response prediction
Authors: Grau Juan Francisco , Aimé Carole , Mehnert Martin , Yaniz-Galende Elisa , Genestie Catherine , Formal Audrey Le , Edmond Elodie , Lachaud Antoine Amaury , Pautier Patricia , Michels Judith , Gouy Sébastien , Maulard Amandine , Colomba-Blameble Emeline , Blanc-Durand Felix , Schanne-Klein Marie-Claire , Leary Alexandra 
Published: March 2024

Mismatch repair deficient (MMRd) status is a predictive biomarker for Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) in endometrial cancer (EC), however, half of these patients (pts) do not respond. Most studies exploring biomarkers of response to ICI have focused on tumor or immune cell factors. We aimed to describe the extracellular matrix components of the tumor microenvironment (TME) in ICI-Responder (R) versus Non-Responder (NR) MMRd EC pts to identify new predictive biomarkers of response.

Clinical data and outcomes of metastatic MMRd EC pts, treated with ICI (2016-2021), were retrospectively collected. Pts were classified as Rs (CR, PR, or SD ≥12 months) or NRs (PD or SD &lt;12 months). Pre-ICI FFPE tumor samples were subjected to Biognosys UltraDeep TrueDiscovery™ Mass Spectrometry (MS) for identification of differentially regulated protein expression between R and NR. Criteria for protein candidate selection were p-value &lt; 0.01 and average absolute log2 fold change (AVG Log ratio) &gt; 0.58. Collagen was visualized on whole slides using Masson’s trichrome and quantified by Qupath. Collagen density was expressed as % positive surface in the intratumoral area. Second-harmonic generation (SHG) microscopy plus polarimetry (p-SHG) was used to estimate collagen content and describe the spatial orientation of fibrillar collagen in the intratumoral area. intraepithelial (ie) and stromal (s) CD3+ and CD8+ cells were quantified by Qupath. Non-parametric t-tests and Spearman’s rank coefficient (r) for linear correlation were used.

Twenty-five tumor samples were included in the analysis: 17 from Rs and 8 from NRs. MS identified collagen type V alpha-2 (AVR Log ratio 2.9, p 0.008) and type XXII alpha-1 chains (AVR Log ratio 1.14, p 0.006) as significantly upregulated in NRs. Using spatial imaging, collagen density in the intratumoral area was significantly higher in NRs (median: 14.2% vs 4.6%, p 0.01). Intratumoral collagen density was positively correlated with collagen type V expression (r 0,54, p 0.016), and negatively correlated with ie and s CD3+ cell (r -0.39, p 0.054; r -0.4, p 0.048, respectively) and ie and s CD8+ cell (r -0.39, p 0.053; and r -0.29, p 0.166) infiltration. SHG confirmed that fibrillar collagen content in the tumor area was significantly greater in NRs (p 0.02). p-SHG revealed that NR tumors tended to show a highly disorganized collagen matrix. In contrast, a linear collagen pattern was associated with response to ICI: 89% of tumors displaying this pattern were Rs.

Both MS and two different spatial approaches consistently demonstrated that increased collagen expression or density may serve as a potential predictive biomarker of resistance to ICI in MMRd metastatic EC, contributing to create an immunosuppressive TME. The spatial orientation pattern of collagen fibers may also be crucial in shaping immune TME and influencing the response to ICI.

Citation Format: Juan Francisco Grau, Carole Aimé, Martin Mehnert, Elisa Yaniz-Galende, Catherine Genestie, Audrey Le Formal, Elodie Edmond, Antoine Amaury Lachaud, Patricia Pautier, Judith Michels, Sébastien Gouy, Amandine Maulard, Emeline Colomba-Blameble, Felix Blanc-Durand, Marie-Claire Schanne-Klein, Alexandra Leary. Extracellular matrix remodeling in metastatic mismatch repair deficient endometrial cancer:Implications for immune checkpoint inhibitor response prediction [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 5149.