Uncoupling immune trajectories of response and adverse events from anti-PD-1 immunotherapy in hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract

Background & aims: While immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) has shown promise in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), it is associated with modest response rates and immune-related adverse events (irAEs) are common. In this study, we aimed to decipher immune trajectories and mechanisms of response and/or irAEs in patients with HCC receiving anti-programmed cell death 1 (anti-PD-1) therapy.

Methods: Pre- and on-treatment peripheral blood samples (n = 60) obtained from 32 patients with HCC (Singapore cohort) were analysed by cytometry by time-of-flight and single-cell RNA sequencing, with flow cytometric validation in an independent Korean cohort (n = 29). Mechanistic validation was conducted by bulk RNA sequencing of 20 pre- and on-treatment tumour biopsies and using a murine HCC model treated with different immunotherapeutic combinations.

Results: Single-cell analyses identified CXCR3+CD8+ effector memory T (TEM) cells and CD11c+ antigen-presenting cells (APC) as associated with response (p = 0.0004 and 0.0255, respectively), progression-free survival (p = 0.00079 and 0.0015, respectively), and irAEs (p = 0.0034 and 0.0125, respectively) in anti-PD-1-treated patients with HCC. Type-1 conventional dendritic cells were identified as the specific APC associated with response, while 2 immunosuppressive CD14+ myeloid clusters were linked to reduced irAEs. Further analyses of CXCR3+CD8+ TEM cells showed cell-cell interactions specific to response vs. irAEs, from which the anti-PD-1 and anti-TNFR2 combination was harnessed to uncouple these effects, resulting in enhanced response without increased irAEs in a murine HCC model.

Conclusions: This study identifies early predictors of clinical response to anti-PD-1 ICB in patients with HCC and offers mechanistic insights into the immune trajectories of these immune subsets at the interface between response and toxicity. We also propose a new combination immunotherapy for HCC to enhance response without exacerbating irAEs.