Multi-platform biomarkers of response to an immune checkpoint inhibitor in the neoadjuvant I-SPY 2 trial for early-stage breast cancer

Only a subset of patients with breast cancer responds to immune checkpoint blockade (ICB). To better understand the underlying mechanisms, we analyze pretreatment biopsies from patients in the I-SPY 2 trial who receive neoadjuvant ICB using multiple platforms to profile the tumor microenvironment. A variety of immune cell populations and markers of immune/cytokine signaling associate with pathologic complete response (pCR). Interestingly, these differ by breast cancer receptor subtype. Measures of the spatial distributions of immune cells within the tumor microenvironment, in particular colocalization or close spatial proximity of PD-1⁺ T cells with PD-L1⁺ cells (immune and tumor cells), are significantly associated with response in the overall cohort as well as the in the triple negative (TN) and HR⁺HER2⁻ subtypes. Our findings indicate that biomarkers associated with immune cell signaling, immune cell densities, and spatial metrics are predictive of neoadjuvant ICB efficacy in breast cancer.