Immune profiling of dedifferentiated liposarcoma and identification of novel antigens for targeted immunotherapy

Dedifferentiated liposarcoma (DDLS) is an aggressive, recurring sarcoma with limited treatments. T-cell immunotherapies selectively target malignant cells, holding promise against DDLS. The development of successful immunotherapy for DDLS requires a thorough evaluation of the tumor immune microenvironment and the identification and characterization of targetable immunogenic tumor antigens. To assess the complexity of the human DDLS tumor immune microenvironment and to identify target antigens, we used the nCounter NanoString platform, analyzing gene expression profiles across 29 DDLS and 10 healthy adipose tissue samples. Hierarchical clustering of tumors based on expression of tumor inflammation signature genes revealed two distinct groups, consisting of 15 inflamed tumors and 14 non-inflamed tumors, demonstrating tumor heterogeneity within this sarcoma subtype. Among the identified antigens, PBK and TTK exhibited substantial upregulation in mRNA expression compared to healthy adipose tissue controls, further corroborated by positive protein expression by IHC. This data shows considerable inter-tumoral heterogeneity of inflammation, which should be taken into consideration when designing an immunotherapy for DDLS, and provides a novel targetable antigen in DDLS. The results of this study lay the groundwork for the development of a novel immunotherapy for this highly aggressive sarcoma.