NK cell-triggered CCL5/IFNγ-CXCL9/10 axis underlies the clinical efficacy of neoadjuvant anti-HER2 antibodies in breast cancer

Abstract

Background: The variability in responses to neoadjuvant treatment with anti-HER2 antibodies prompts to personalized clinical management and the development of innovative treatment strategies. Tumor-infiltrating Natural Killer (TI-NK) cells can predict the efficacy of HER2-targeted antibodies independently from clinicopathological factors in primary HER2-positive breast cancer patients. Understanding the mechanism/s underlying this association would contribute to optimizing patient stratification and provide the rationale for combinatorial approaches with immunotherapy. Methods: We sought to uncover processes enriched in NK cell-infiltrated tumors as compared to NK cell-desert tumors by microarray analysis. Findings were validated in clinical trial-derived transcriptomic data. In vitro and in vivo preclinical models were used for mechanistic studies. Findings were analysed in clinical samples (tumor and serum) from breast cancer patients. Results: NK cell-infiltrated tumors were enriched in CCL5/IFNG-CXCL9/10 transcripts. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, IFNG levels underlie the association between TI-NK cells and pathological complete response to neoadjuvant treatment with trastuzumab. Mechanistically, the production of IFN-ɣ by CD16+ NK cells triggered the secretion of CXCL9/10 from cancer cells. This effect was associated to tumor growth control and the conversion of CD16 into CD16-CD103+ NK cells in humanized in vivo models. In human breast tumors, the CD16 and CD103 markers identified lineage-related NK cell subpopulations capable of producing CCL5 and IFN-ɣ, which correlated with tissue-resident CD8+ T cells. Finally, an early increase in serum CCL5/CXCL9 levels identified patients with NK cell-rich tumors showing good responses to anti-HER2 antibody-based neoadjuvant treatment. Conclusions: This study identifies specialized NK cell subsets as the source of IFN-ɣ influencing the clinical efficacy of anti-HER2 antibodies. It also reveals the potential of serum CCL5/CXCL9 as biomarkers for identifying patients with NK cell-rich tumors and favorable responses to anti-HER2 antibody-based neoadjuvant treatment.