IM-2 Possibility of immunotherapy for the glioblastoma patients with O6-methyl-guanine DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) expression or promoter unmethylated

Abstract

Background: MGMT is a DNA repair protein that removes the cytotoxic O6-methylguanine (O6MG) DNA lesions generated by TMZ; thereby, MGMT expression is mechanistically linked to TMZ resistance. However, thus far, there is no effective treatment for these patients with MGMT promoter unmethylated. Therefore, a new treatment for GBM patients with MGMT expression is urgently needed. To this end, we examined the tumor microenvironment in GBM with or without MGMT expression. Methods: Based on The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) primary GBM cohort, the tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) expression level was calculated using the CIBERSORTx algorithms and the single-sample Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (ssGSEA) method. Furthermore, the differential expression gene analysis was conducted and pathway analysis was performed using Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA). The results were validated using the GBM cohort from the Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas (CGGA) database. In addition, TILs were isolated from 13 surgically removed primary GBM tumors in our institution. Their responses to autologous tumors were evaluated by IFNγ ELISA. Results: T cells CD8 score by CIBERSORTx was significantly higher in the MGMT-high tumor. Similarly, ssGSEA scores for activated CD8 T cell, Macrophage, activated B cell, and Type 1 T helper cell were significantly higher in the MGMT-high tumor. Conversely, T cells CD4 naive was significantly higher in the MGMT-low tumor. Consistently, tumor-reactive TILs were detected in the MGMT-high tumor. Pathway analysis showed that Rictor was highly enriched in the MGMT-high tumor and Rictor inhibited lymphocyte activation. Coclusion: In this study, we demonstrated that macrophage was highly activated in the MGMT-high tumors. Thus, CSF-1R inhibitor can be combined with immunotherapy in these MGMT-high tumors to enhance anti-tumor immune responses. In addition, TMZ + mTOR2 inhibitors + PD-1 inhibitors may be effective against the MGMT-L group.