Elucidation of Innate and Adaptive Immunity in Patients With Cervical Cancer [ID 920]

INTRODUCTION: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have significantly affected therapies for cervical cancer (CC). Despite this progress, CC remains the fourth most frequent malignancy in women, and treatment options for patients in advanced stages or who experience cancer recurrence are limited. Although recent studies focus on specific T cell immunity in CC concerning ICIs, overall immune landscape in CC remains unclear. In this study, we examined both circulating innate immunity and local T cell immunity to unveil it. METHODS: This study includes 23 patients with CC. We conducted an analysis of circulating innate iNKT and NK cells and also examined the local T cell response through the histological analysis of tissues from the patients with CC. RESULTS: Higher expression of NKG2D in NK cells was observed by analysis of NK cells in peripheral blood from the CC patients. We also detected Vα24 + NKT cells capable of producing IFN-γ and upregulation of NKG2D of NK cells. Fluorescent multiplex immunohistochemistry to analyze T cells in nontumor, intratumor (IT), and invasive front (IF) regions revealed that TIM-3 + T cells and CD103 + CD69 − CD8 + T cells were accumulated. The heatmap and correlation analysis indicated that LAG-3 + TIM-3 + T cells are highly associated with resident memory T (TRM) cells. CONCLUSIONS/IMPLICATIONS: LAG-3 + TIM-3 + TRM located in IF should play a significant role in regulation of tumor immune microenvironment. Innate and adaptive immunity could be activated by an optimal immunotherapy.