Cancer-Associated Immune Resistance and Evasion of Immune Surveillance in Colorectal Cancer

Figure 3

Subsets of immune-phenotypic genes correlate with genome instability in a variety of tumors. (a) Genome instability represents one of the most important hallmarks of genetic diversity in tumors. We utilized a panel of 881 human tumor cell lines derived from different tissues of origin that has been extensively characterized for gene expression and copy-number variations and commonly used for genetic analysis and screening of potential chemotherapeutic agents [21]. mRNA expression of the immune antigens subdivided into low and high is shown. Kaplan-Meier curve shows that, compared with tumors expressing low PD-1 mRNA levels (blue line, 348/382, 91%), tumors with high PD-1 mRNA expression (red line, 34/382, 9%) are significantly associated with poor overall survival by interrogating the public colorectal cancer TCGA data set (). (b) Subsets of immune antigens and their prevalence in cancer cells in solid tumors are reported. (c, d) Immunohistochemical staining of colon cancer with neutrophils and macrophage antigens, CD15 and CD68, respectively. Black arrows indicate the immunostaining on the surface of malignant colonic cells. Red arrows indicate absence of immune antigen positivity, magnification 10x. TILs: tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes; Ms: macrophages; NGs: neutrophil granulocytes; CTCs: circulating tumor cells; DCs: dendritic cells.

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