Immune Profiling of Combined Hepatocellular-Cholangiocarcinoma Reveals Distinct Subtypes and Activation of Gene Signatures Predictive of Response to Immunotherapy

Purpose: Combined hepatocellular-cholangiocarcinoma (cHCC-CCA) is a rare malignancy associated with an overall poor prognosis. We aimed to investigate the immune profile of cHCC-CCA and determine its impact on disease outcome. Experimental Design: We performed a multicenter study of 96 patients with cHCC-CCA. Gene expression profile was analyzed using nCounter PanCancer JO 360 Panel. Densities of main immune cells subsets were quantified from digital slides of IHC stainings. Genetic alterations were investigated using targeted next-generation sequencing. Results: Two main immune subtypes of cHCC-CCA were identified by dustering analysis: an immune-high (IH) subtype (57% of the cases) and an immune-low (IL) subtype (43% of the cases). Tumors classified as IH showed overexpression of genes related to immune cells recruitment, adaptive and innate immunity, antigen presentation, cytotoxicity, immune suppression, and inflammation (P < 0.0001). IH cHCC-CCAs also displayed activation of gene signatures recently shown to be associated with response to immunotherapy in patients with HCC. Quantification of immunostainings confirmed that IH tumors were also characterized by higher densities of immune cells. Immune subtypes were not associated with any genetic alterations. Finally, multivariate analysis showed that the IH subtype was an independent predictor of improved overall survival. Conclusions: We have identified a subgroup of cHCC-CCA that displays features of an ongoing intratumor immune response, along with an activation of gene signatures predictive of response to immunotherapy in HCC. This tumor subclass is associated with an improved dinical outcome. These findings suggest that a subset of patients with cHCC-CCA may benefit from immunomodulating therapeutic approaches.

Automated summary

This study identified two immune subtypes of combined hepatocellular-cholangiocarcinoma (cHCC-CCA): an immune-high subtype characterized by higher densities of immune cells and activation of gene signatures related to immune response and immunotherapy in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and an immune-low subtype. The immune-high subtype was associated with improved overall survival. These findings suggest that a subset of cHCC-CCA patients may benefit from immunomodulating therapeutic approaches.