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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Immunol.
Sec. Cancer Immunity and Immunotherapy
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1483887
This article is part of the Research Topic Community Series in The Immunosuppressive Tumor Microenvironment and Strategies to Revert its Immune Regulatory Milieu for Cancer Immunotherapy: Volume II View all 3 articles

Heterogeneous Immune Landscapes and Macrophage Dynamics in Primary and Lung Metastatic Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma of the Head and Neck

Provisionally accepted
Xuelian Wang Xuelian Wang 1Tingyao Ma Tingyao Ma 1Hongfei Liu Hongfei Liu 1Shujing Zhang Shujing Zhang 1Guoliang Yang Guoliang Yang 1Yue Zhao Yue Zhao 1Lu Kong Lu Kong 2Ran Gao Ran Gao 3*Xiaohong Chen Xiaohong Chen 1*
  • 1 Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
  • 2 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Basic Medical School, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
  • 3 Key Laboratory of Human Disease Comparative Medicine, Institute of Laboratory Animal Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Recurrent or metastatic adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) of the head and neck is rare and highly aggressive. Due to the ineffectiveness of immune checkpoint therapies, this study aims to investigate the tumor immune microenvironment of primary tumor tissues and lung metastatic tissues and to comprehend the challenges of immunotherapy. We analyzed RNA sequencing data and constructed immune landscapes from 25 primary tumors and 34 lung metastases. The data were then validated by immunohistochemistry and single-cell sequencing analysis. Compared to adjacent normal tissues, both primary and lung metastatic ACC showed low immune infiltration. Lung metastases had higher immune infiltration levels and antigen presentation scores but also higher T cell exclusion and dysfunction scores. Single-cell sequencing data and immunohistochemistry revealed abundant immunosuppressive tumor-associated macrophages in lung metastases. Patients with high M2 macrophage infiltration had shorter lung metastasis-free survival. Primary and lung metastatic ACC exhibit heterogeneous tumor immune microenvironments. Higher immune cell infiltration in lung metastases is countered by the presence of suppressive tumor-associated macrophages, which may limit effective anti-tumor responses.

    Keywords: Adenoid cystic carcinoma, Lung metastasis, Tumor immune microenvironment, tumor-associated macrophage, Immune Evasion

    Received: 20 Aug 2024; Accepted: 30 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Wang, Ma, Liu, Zhang, Yang, Zhao, Kong, Gao and Chen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Ran Gao, Key Laboratory of Human Disease Comparative Medicine, Institute of Laboratory Animal Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100021, China
    Xiaohong Chen, Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.