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Review
. 2023 Dec 13:14:1330635.
doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1330635. eCollection 2023.

Tumour microenvironment influences response to treatment in oesophageal adenocarcinoma

Clemence J Belle  1 , James M Lonie  1 , Sandra Brosda  1 , Andrew P Barbour  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Tumour microenvironment influences response to treatment in oesophageal adenocarcinoma

Clemence J Belle et al. Front Immunol. .

Abstract

The poor treatment response of oesophageal adenocarcinoma (OAC) leads to low survival rates. Its increasing incidence makes finding more effective treatment a priority. Recent treatment improvements can be attributed to the inclusion of the tumour microenvironment (TME) and immune infiltrates in treatment decisions. OAC TME is largely immunosuppressed and reflects treatment resistance as patients with inflamed TME have better outcomes. Priming the tumour with the appropriate neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy treatment could lead to higher immune infiltrations and higher expression of immune checkpoints, such as PD-1/PDL-1, CTLA4 or emerging new targets: LAG-3, TIM-3, TIGIT or ICOS. Multiple trials support the addition of immune checkpoint inhibitors to the current standard of care. However, results vary, supporting the need for better response biomarkers based on TME composition. This review explores what is known about OAC TME, the clinical significance of the various cell populations infiltrating it and the emerging therapeutical combination with a focus on immune checkpoints inhibitors.

Keywords: immune checkpoints; immune infiltrate; immunotherapy; oesophageal adenocarcinoma; treatment response; tumour microenvironment.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
T cell immune checkpoints.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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Publication types

Supplementary concepts