Discoidin Domain Receptor-Driven Gene Signatures as Markers of Patient Response to Anti-PD-L1 Immune Checkpoint Therapy

Sungyong You, Minhyung Kim, Xen Ping Hoi, Yu Cheng Lee, Li Wang, David Spetzler, Jim Abraham, Dan Magee, Prerna Jain, Matthew D Galsky, Keith Syson Chan, Dan Theodorescu

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Anti-programmed cell death 1 (anti-PD-1) and PD ligand 1 (PD-L1) immune checkpoint therapies (ICTs) provided durable responses only in a subset of cancer patients. Thus, biomarkers are needed to predict nonresponders and offer them alternative treatments. We recently implicated discoidin domain receptor tyrosine kinase 2 (DDR2) as a contributor to anti-PD-1 resistance in animal models; therefore, we sought to investigate whether this gene family may provide ICT response prediction.

METHODS: We assessed mRNA expression of DDR2 and its family member DDR1. Transcriptome analysis of bladder cancer (BCa) models in which DDR1 and 2 were perturbed was used to derive DDR1- and DDR2-driven signature scores. DDR mRNA expression and gene signature scores were evaluated using BCa-The Cancer Genome Atlas (n = 259) and IMvigor210 (n = 298) datasets, and their relationship to BCa subtypes, pathway enrichment, and immune deconvolution analyses was performed. The potential of DDR-driven signatures to predict ICT response was evaluated and independently validated through a statistical framework in bladder and lung cancer cohorts. All statistical tests were 2-sided.

RESULTS: DDR1 and DDR2 showed mutually exclusive gene expression patterns in human tumors. DDR2high BCa exhibited activation of immune pathways and a high immune score, indicative of a T-cell-inflamed phenotype, whereas DDR1high BCa exhibited a non-T-cell-inflamed phenotype. In IMvigor210 cohort, tumors with high DDR1 (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.53, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.16 to 2.06; P = .003) or DDR2 (HR = 1.42, 95% CI = 1.01 to 1.92; P = .04) scores had poor overall survival. Of note, DDR2high tumors from IMvigor210 and CheckMate 275 (n = 73) cohorts exhibited poorer overall survival (HR = 1.56, 95% CI = 1.20 to 2.06; P < .001) and progression-free survival (HR = 1.77 95%, CI = 1.05 to 3.00; P = .047), respectively. This result was validated in independent cancer datasets.

CONCLUSIONS: These findings implicate DDR1 and DDR2 driven signature scores in predicting ICT response.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1380-1391
Number of pages12
JournalJournal of the National Cancer Institute
Volume114
Issue number10
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Oct 6 2022

Keywords

  • Animals
  • B7-H1 Antigen/immunology
  • Biomarkers
  • Discoidin Domain Receptor 2/genetics
  • Discoidin Domain Receptors/genetics
  • Humans
  • Ligands
  • Lung Neoplasms/drug therapy
  • RNA, Messenger
  • Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases/genetics
  • Receptors, Mitogen/genetics

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Discoidin Domain Receptor-Driven Gene Signatures as Markers of Patient Response to Anti-PD-L1 Immune Checkpoint Therapy'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this