Study of optimally combined immunotherapy based on analysis of Intratumor Immune response in sarcoma

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K18080
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 56020:Orthopedics-related
• Research Institution: Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research
• Principal Investigator: SATO Yasuyoshi 公益財団法人がん研究会, 有明病院 総合腫瘍科, 副医長 (00869836)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 肉腫 / 腫瘍免疫 / 免疫療法

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Surgical and peripheral blood samples were collected from 180 sarcoma patients during the study period. In cases where a sufficient amount of tumor tissue could be obtained, the tumor tissue was shredded and enzymatically treated to produce fresh tumor digest (FTD). The remainder was seeded on a culture medium to culture tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and tumor cells. The resulting TILs and FTD were co-cultured, and the supernatant was collected and analyzed for interferon gamma (IFNγ) production by ELISA, confirming the presence of a case group of tumor-reactive TILs in the tumor cells as in previous studies. In addition, next-generation sequencing has been outsourced, and flow cytometry and liquid factor analysis have been performed in some cases to analyze the multilayered immune response within the tumor.

Free Research Field

腫瘍内科

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

肉腫においても腫瘍細胞内に腫瘍反応性のTILが存在する症例があることが確認された。研究期間終了時点では、次世代シークエンス、フローサイトメトリー、液性因子解析を行って、腫瘍内免疫応答の多層的な解析を進めており、最終的には、腫瘍内免疫応答の評価に基づく個別化免疫治療や新規の複合的免疫治療の開発につながることが期待される。