Tumour associated lymphocytes in the pleural effusions of patients with mesothelioma express high levels of inhibitory receptors.

BMC Research Notes 2018 December 5 [Link]

Chee J, Watson MW, Chopra A, Nguyen B, Cook AM, Creaney J, Lesterhuis WJ, Robinson BW, Lee YCG, Nowak AK, Lake RA, McDonnell AM

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:
Pleural effusion (PE) is a common feature of malignant pleural mesothelioma. These effusions typically contain lymphocytes and malignant cells. We postulated that the PE would be a source of lymphocytes for analysis of tumor immune milieu. The aim of this study was to compare the phenotype and T cell receptor usage of pleural effusion T cells with paired concurrently drawn peripheral blood lymphocytes. We used multi-parameter flow cytometry and high-throughput T cell receptor sequencing to analyse peripheral blood and pleural effusion mononuclear cells.
RESULTS:
Both CD8+ and CD4+ T cells from effusion showed increased expression of T cell inhibitory receptors PD-1, LAG-3 and Tim-3 compared to blood. Comprehensive T cell receptor sequencing on one of the patients showed a discordant distribution of clonotypes in the antigen-experienced (PD-1+) compartment between effusion and blood, suggesting an enrichment of antigen specific clonotypes in the effusion, with potential as an immunological response biomarker.