Frontiers in Immunology (Apr 2022)

IL-9 Producing Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes and Treg Subsets Drive Immune Escape of Tumor Cells in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

  • Lisanne Heim,
  • Zuqin Yang,
  • Patrick Tausche,
  • Katja Hohenberger,
  • Mircea T. Chiriac,
  • Julia Koelle,
  • Carol-Immanuel Geppert,
  • Katerina Kachler,
  • Sarah Miksch,
  • Anna Graser,
  • Juliane Friedrich,
  • Rakshin Kharwadkar,
  • Ralf J. Rieker,
  • Denis I. Trufa,
  • Horia Sirbu,
  • Markus F. Neurath,
  • Mark H. Kaplan,
  • Susetta Finotto

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2022.859738
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 13

Abstract

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Although lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide, the mechanisms how lung cancer cells evade the immune system remain incompletely understood. Here, we discovered IL-9-dependent signaling mechanisms that drive immune evasion in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We found increased IL-9 and IL-21 production by T cells in the tumoral region of the lung of patients with NSCLC, suggesting the presence of Th9 cells in the lung tumor microenvironment. Moreover, we noted IL-9 producing Tregs in NSCLC. IL-9 target cells in NSCLC consisted of IL-9R+ tumor cells and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes. In two murine experimental models of NSCLC, and in vitro, IL-9 prevented cell death and controlled growth of lung adenocarcinoma cells. Targeted deletion of IL-9 resulted in successful lung tumor rejection in vivo associated with an induction of IL-21 and reduction of Treg cells. Finally, anti-IL-9 antibody immunotherapy resulted in suppression of tumor development even in established experimental NSCLC and was associated with reduced IL-10 production in the lung. In conclusion, our findings indicate that IL-9 drives immune escape of lung tumor cells via effects on tumor cell survival and tumor infiltrating T cells. Thus, strategies blocking IL-9 emerge as a new approach for clinical therapy of lung cancer.

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