Identification of immune cell infiltration profiles in renal cell carcinoma and their clinical significance

Abstract

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is the most common malignancy of the urinary system, accounting for 3.7% of all new malignancies. The prognosis of RCC patients is still poor, especially patients in advanced stage. Limited studies have fully clarified the role of immune cell infiltration profiles in the prognosis and immunotherapy of RCC. In current study, we evaluated the abundance of the 22 tumor-infiltrating immune cells (TIICs) with CIBERSORT methods. The correlation between TIICs and clinicopathological parameters, tumor immune dysfunction and exclusion (TIDE) score and immunophenoscore (IPS) of RCC patients were also explored. Significant correlations were obtained between TIICs subpopulation and specific clinicopathologic parameters of RCC, including age, gender, tumor grade, clinical stage, T stage and distant metastasis. Moreover, RCC patients with high level of memory activated CD4 T cells, follicular helper T cells and regulatory T cells had a worse overall survival (OS) rate. RCC patients with high level of CD 8 + T cells and M1 macrophages had a lower TIDE score and higher anti-CTLA IPS, higher anti-PD1 IPS as well as higher anti-PD1/CTLA4 IPS. Our results clarified the immune cell infiltration profiles of RCC. RCC patients with high level of CD 8 + T cell and M1 macrophages had a lower TIDE score and higher IPS, suggesting that RCC patients with high level of CD 8 + T cell and M1 macrophages may benefit from immunotherapy.