Abstract 1356: The tumor immune microenvironment of recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Abstract

Abstract Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is endemic in southern China and Southeast Asia. While primary tumors respond well to radiotherapy with or without chemotherapy, the management of recurrent/metastatic (RM) diseases is a challenge. What contributes to the refractoriness of RM NPC remains to be elucidated. In this study, we recruited patients who developed local recurrences or distal metastases. Gene expression profiles of tumor cells, tumor stroma and tumor-infiltrating immune cells in paired primary and RM NPC samples were obtained by targeted mRNA sequencing techniques. It was found that RM NPC, compared to their primary compartment, showed significant enrichment of immune cell-related gene signatures. This was associated with an altered immune cell composition, with enhanced T cell activation and exhaustion coupled with an M2-skewed macrophage population. Together, these data depict a more inflamed yet immunosuppressive microenvironment of RM NPC and highlight macrophages being a potential target to reinvigorate antitumoral immune responses. Citation Format: Jingyi Ma, Anne James, Jolene Poh, Magdalene Jahn May Chua, Qianhui Poh, Sharifah Azzah Binte Syed Mohamad Anis Alsagoff, Xinxiu Sam, Geksan Tan, Chekang Lim, Sathiyamoorthy Selvarajan, Tony Kiat Hon Lim, Jamie Chen Yee Mong, Chweeming Lim. The tumor immune microenvironment of recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2023; Part 1 (Regular and Invited Abstracts); 2023 Apr 14-19; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(7_Suppl):Abstract nr 1356.