Baseline extracellular vesicle TGF-β is a predictive biomarker for response to immune-checkpoint inhibitors and survival in non-small-cell lung cancer

Background: Immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are an effective therapeutic strategy, improving the survival of patients with lung cancer compared with conventional treatments. However, novel predictive biomarkers are needed to stratify which patients derive clinical benefit because the currently used and highly heterogenic histological PD-L1 has shown low accuracy. Liquid biopsy is the analysis of biomarkers in body fluids and represents a minimally invasive tool that can be used to monitor tumor evolution and treatment effects, potentially reducing biases associated with tumor heterogeneity associated with tissue biopsies. In this context, cytokines, such as transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta), can be found free in circulation in the blood and packaged into extracellular vesicles (EVs), which have a specific delivery tropism and can affect in tumor/immune system interaction. TGF-beta is an immunosuppressive cytokine that plays a crucial role in tumor immune escape, treatment resistance, and metastasis. Thus, we aimed to evaluate the predictive value of circulating and EV TGF-beta in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer receiving ICIs. Methods: Plasma samples were collected in 33 patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer before and during treatment with ICIs. EV were isolated from plasma by serial ultracentrifugation methods and circulating and EV TGF-beta expression levels were evaluated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results: Baseline high expression of TGF-beta in EVs was associated with nonresponse to ICIs as well as shorter progression-free survival and overall survival, outperforming circulating TGF-beta levels and tissue PD-L1 as a predictive biomarker. Conclusion: If validated, EV TGF-beta could be used to improve patient stratification, increasing the effectiveness of treatment with ICIs and potentially informing combinatory treatments with TGF-beta blockade. Plain language summary Treatment with immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) has improved the survival of some patients with lung cancer. However, the majority of patients do not benefit from this treatment, making it essential to develop more reliable biomarkers to identify patients most likely to benefit. In this pilot study, the expression of transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) in blood circulation and in extracellular vesicles was analyzed. The levels of extracellular vesicle TGF-beta before treatment were able to determine which patients would benefit from treatment with ICIs and have a longer survival with higher accuracy than circulating TGF-beta and tissue PD-L1, which is the currently used biomarker in clinical practice.

Automated summary

Immune-checkpoint inhibitors are effective in treating lung cancer, but there is a need for better predictive biomarkers to identify patients who will benefit. This study found that high levels of TGF-beta in extracellular vesicles before treatment were a better predictor of response to ICIs and survival compared to circulating TGF-beta and tissue PD-L1.