Multiplexed immunohistochemical analysis of the immune microenvironment of biliary tract cancers pre- & post-neoadjuvant chemotherapy: case series

Background: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) is increasingly being used in the management of locally advanced biliary tract cancer (BTC). The evidence suggests a contributing role of tumor infiltrating immune cells in the prognosis and response. We set out to characterize immune modulation of tumor immune microenvironment in BTC following NACT.

Case description: Patients with BTC who underwent diagnostic biopsy, then NACT then resection between 2014-2018 were identified. Multiplexed immunohistochemical consecutive staining on single slide (MICSSS) analysis was performed with a series of immune markers to characterize T-cells, immune checkpoints etc. on pre- & post-NACT tumor tissue. Density was calculated for each marker. The final analysis included five patients. Median age was 48 (range, 41-56) years, with 4 female, 4 intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma and 1 gallbladder. All patients received gemcitabine/cisplatin as NACT (median of 5 cycles). Median time from diagnosis to surgery was 4.3 (range, 1.4-7.8) months. All patients were mismatch repair proficient (pMMR). NACT on average produced a depletion of all immune markers. Given small sample size, each patient was considered their own control and changes in mean cell densities post-NACT were calculated. Patient #2 with a 40-fold increase in PD-L1 expression & 5-fold decrease in CD8:FOXP3 ratio after NACT notably had the shortest disease-free interval (DFI). Patient #3 with the longest DFI had the largest increase in CD8:FOXP3 by about 8-fold with a decrease in PD-L1.

Conclusions: Preliminary results suggest NACT may differentially modulate various compartments of the immune tumor contexture despite overall cell depletion. Future studies should focus on strategies to expand immune modulation of tumor microenvironment, including immune-oncology agents to augment the effects of chemotherapy.