Toll-Like Receptor 3 Expressing Tumor Parenchyma and Infiltrating Natural Killer Cells in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients
Menée à l'aide de modèles murins et d'échantillons tumoraux prélevés sur 172 patients atteints d'un carcinome hépatocellulaire, cette étude met en évidence le rôle joué par le récepteur TLR3 dans la progression de la maladie
Background Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a highly aggressive cancer that is linked to chronically dysregulated liver inflammation. However, appropriate immune responses can control HCC progression. Here we investigated the role and underlying mechanism of toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3) in HCC.
Methods HCC cell death, and natural killer (NK) cell activation and cytotoxicity were assessed in vitro after treatment with the TLR3 ligand poly(I:C). The effect of TLR3 on the tumor parenchyma and infiltrating immune cells was investigated in a spontaneous liver tumor mouse model and a transplanted tumor mouse model (n = 3–9 mice per group). Immunohistochemistry and quantitative polymerase chain reaction were used to analyze tumor samples from 172 HCC patients. Paired t-tests and analysis of variance tests were used to calculate P-values. The relationship between TLR3 expression and survival was determined by the Kaplan–Meier univariate survival analysis and a log-rank test. All statistical tests were two-sided.
Results TLR3 activation increased cell death in the TLR3+ SNU182 HCC cell line (30.5% vs 8.5%, P = .03) and promoted NK-cell activation (32.6% vs 19.4%, P < .001) and cytotoxicity (relative fourfold increase, P = .03) in vitro. In vivo, poly(I:C) treatment increased intratumoral chemokine expression, NK-cell activation and tumor infiltration, and proliferation of tumor-infiltrating T and NK cells. Proliferation of tumor parenchyma cells was decreased. Also, expression of chemokines or treatment with poly(I:C) decreased tumor growth. TLR3 expression in patient samples correlated with NK-cell activation, NK- and T-cell tumor infiltration, and inversely correlated with tumor parenchyma cell viability. TLR3 expression was also associated with longer survival in HCC patients (hazard ratio of survival = 2.1, 95% confidence interval = 1.3 to 3.4, P = .002).
Conclusions TLR3 is an important modulator of HCC progression and is a potential target for novel immunotherapy.
Journal of the National Cancer Institute , résumé, 2012