Tumor infiltration of inactive CD8 + T cells was associated with poor prognosis in Gastric Cancer

Background: Gastric cancer (GC) shows limited response to immune checkpoint inhibitors due to its complex tumor immune microenvironment (TIME). This study explores the functions of various immune cells in the complex TIME in GC.

Methods: We assessed CD8 + T-cell infiltration of GC tissues by immunohistochemistry, and performed single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) of tumor and normal tissues from 34 patients with GC.

Results: We categorized 157 GC patients into LOW, MID, and HIGH groups based on their CD8 + T-cell infiltration. Overall survival was notably lower for the HIGH and LOW groups compared with the MID group. Our scRNA-seq data analysis showed that CD8 + T-cell activity markers in the HIGH group were expressed at lower levels than in normal tissue, but the T-cell-attracting chemokine CCL5 was expressed at a higher level. Notably, CD8 + T-cells in the HIGH group displayed lower PD1 expression and higher CTLA4 expression. TCR repertoire analysis using only Epstein-Barr virus-negative cases showed that CD8 + T-cell receptor clonality was lower in the HIGH group than in the MID group. Furthermore, in the HIGH group, the antigen-presenting capacity of type 1 conventional dendritic cells was lower, the immunosuppressive capacity of myeloid-derived suppressor cells was higher, and the expression of CTLA4 in regulatory T-cells was higher.

Conclusion: The present data suggest that the infiltration of inactive CD8 + T-cells with low clonality is induced by chemotaxis in the HIGH group, possibly leading to a poor prognosis for patients with GC.