Analysis of T Cell Subsets Using Multiplex Immunohistochemistry and Clinical Outcomes of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors in Advanced Gastric Cancer Patients

As immunotherapy has become essential in the treatment of gastric cancer (GC), there has been growing interest in T-cells, which play a key role in immunotherapy. In this study, we evaluated the impact of T-cell subsets on immune responsiveness to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in GC using multiplex immunohistochemistry (mIHC). Eighty-four GC patients treated with ICIs were enrolled, and we repeated the staining-scanning-stripping procedure nine times to assess different kinds of T-cells or cell-surface immune checkpoints in a single tissue section. The proportions of patients with microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), and non-MSI/non-EBV were 8.3%, 3.6% and 88.1%. A high cytotoxic T-cell (Tcyto) density was related to longer overall survival (OS). GC with a high ratio of Tcyto/total T-cells (Ttotal) and a low ratio of regulatory T-cells (Treg)/Ttotal showed better OS. A high density of PD-1- or TIM-3- expressing Tcyto were also associated with longer OS than a low density of those. Among memory T-cells (Tmem) subsets, GC with a high ratio of memory Tcyto/Tmem and a low ratio of memory Treg/Tmem showed prolonged OS. Better tumor responses were observed in GC with a high ratio of Tcyto/Ttotal and memory Tcyto/Tmem. T-cell subsets within the tumor microenvironment were associated with the clinical efficacy of ICIs in GC. PD-1- or TIM-3 expressing T-cells were also associated with response to ICIs, while memory T-cells subsets were associated with survival. mIHC is a feasible method for evaluating T-cell subsets in archival gastric tumor tissue.