Abstract
Soft tissue sarcoma (STS) is a group of cancers transformed from mesenchymal cells. The treatment outcome of immunotherapy has not been as successful in STS, and our understanding of the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) may help us in the search of better treatment. This chapter aims to describe the tumor immune microenvironment of soft tissue sarcoma in detail in terms of specific immune cell types as well as specific histologies. The topics included B cells and tertiary lymphoid structures, T cells, macrophages, and the effects of anticancer treatments on the TIME. In the latter part of this chapter, we will also discuss about the TIME of leiomyosarcoma, liposarcoma, and epigenetic regulation-associated STS and ways to improve the treatment.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Binnewies M, Roberts EW, Kersten K, et al. Understanding the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) for effective therapy. Nat Med. 2018;24:541–50.
Lee ATJ, Chew W, Wilding CP, et al. The adequacy of tissue microarrays in the assessment of inter- and intra-tumoural heterogeneity of infiltrating lymphocyte burden in leiomyosarcoma. Sci Rep. 2019;9:14602.
Stack EC, Wang C, Roman KA, Hoyt CC. Multiplexed immunohistochemistry, imaging, and quantitation: a review, with an assessment of Tyramide signal amplification, multispectral imaging and multiplex analysis. Methods. 2014;70:46–58.
Edin S, Kaprio T, Hagstrom J, et al. The prognostic importance of CD20(+) B lymphocytes in colorectal cancer and the relation to other immune cell subsets. Sci Rep. 2019;9:19997.
Sturm G, Finotello F, Petitprez F, et al. Comprehensive evaluation of transcriptome-based cell-type quantification methods for immuno-oncology. Bioinformatics. 2019;35:i436–45.
Finotello F, Rieder D, Hackl H, Trajanoski Z. Next-generation computational tools for interrogating cancer immunity. Nat Rev Genet. 2019;20:724–46.
Cancer Genome Atlas Research Network. Electronic address edsc, Cancer Genome Atlas Research N. Comprehensive and integrated genomic characterization of adult soft tissue sarcomas. Cell. 2017;171:950–965.e928.
Rizvi NA, Hellmann MD, Snyder A, et al. Cancer immunology. Mutational landscape determines sensitivity to PD-1 blockade in non-small cell lung cancer. Science. 2015;348:124–8.
Iglesia MD, Parker JS, Hoadley KA, et al. Genomic analysis of immune cell infiltrates across 11 tumor types. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2016;108:djw144.
Davoli T, Uno H, Wooten EC, Elledge SJ. Tumor aneuploidy correlates with markers of immune evasion and with reduced response to immunotherapy. Science. 2017;355:eaaf8399.
Chen L, Oke T, Siegel N, et al. The immunosuppressive niche of soft-tissue sarcomas is sustained by tumor-associated macrophages and characterized by intratumoral tertiary lymphoid structures. Clin Cancer Res. 2020;26:4018–30.
Dancsok AR, Setsu N, Gao D, et al. Expression of lymphocyte immunoregulatory biomarkers in bone and soft-tissue sarcomas. Mod Pathol. 2019;32:1772–85.
Fujii H, Arakawa A, Utsumi D, et al. CD8(+) tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes at primary sites as a possible prognostic factor of cutaneous angiosarcoma. Int J Cancer. 2014;134:2393–402.
Pollack SM, He Q, Yearley JH, et al. T-cell infiltration and clonality correlate with programmed cell death protein 1 and programmed death-ligand 1 expression in patients with soft tissue sarcomas. Cancer. 2017;123:3291–304.
Petitprez F, de Reynies A, Keung EZ, et al. B cells are associated with survival and immunotherapy response in sarcoma. Nature. 2020;577:556–60.
Becht E, Giraldo NA, Lacroix L, et al. Estimating the population abundance of tissue-infiltrating immune and stromal cell populations using gene expression. Genome Biol. 2016;17:218.
Buckley CD, Barone F, Nayar S, et al. Stromal cells in chronic inflammation and tertiary lymphoid organ formation. Annu Rev Immunol. 2015;33:715–45.
Sautes-Fridman C, Verneau J, Sun CM, et al. Tertiary lymphoid structures and B cells: clinical impact and therapeutic modulation in cancer. Semin Immunol. 2020;48:101406.
Sorbye SW, Kilvaer T, Valkov A, et al. Prognostic impact of lymphocytes in soft tissue sarcomas. PLoS One. 2011;6:e14611.
Tsagozis P, Augsten M, Zhang Y, et al. An immunosuppressive macrophage profile attenuates the prognostic impact of CD20-positive B cells in human soft tissue sarcoma. Cancer Immunol Immunother. 2019;68:927–36.
Sautes-Fridman C, Petitprez F, Calderaro J, Fridman WH. Tertiary lymphoid structures in the era of cancer immunotherapy. Nat Rev Cancer. 2019;19:307–25.
Lin Q, Tao P, Wang J, et al. Tumor-associated tertiary lymphoid structure predicts postoperative outcomes in patients with primary gastrointestinal stromal tumors. Oncoimmunology. 2020;9:1747339.
Yan L, Wang Z, Cui C, et al. Comprehensive immune characterization and T-cell receptor repertoire heterogeneity of retroperitoneal liposarcoma. Cancer Sci. 2019;110(10):3038–48.
Posch F, Silina K, Leibl S, et al. Maturation of tertiary lymphoid structures and recurrence of stage II and III colorectal cancer. Oncoimmunology. 2018;7:e1378844.
Martin-Broto J, Moura DS, Van Tine BA. Facts and hopes in immunotherapy of soft-tissue sarcomas. Clin Cancer Res. 2020;26:5801–8.
D'Angelo SP, Shoushtari AN, Agaram NP, et al. Prevalence of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and PD-L1 expression in the soft tissue sarcoma microenvironment. Hum Pathol. 2015;46:357–65.
van Erp AEM, Versleijen-Jonkers YMH, Hillebrandt-Roeffen MHS, et al. Expression and clinical association of programmed cell death-1, programmed death-ligand-1 and CD8(+) lymphocytes in primary sarcomas is subtype dependent. Oncotarget. 2017;8:71371–84.
Toulmonde M, Penel N, Adam J, et al. Use of PD-1 targeting, macrophage infiltration, and IDO pathway activation in sarcomas: a phase 2 clinical trial. JAMA Oncol. 2018;4:93–7.
Pages F, Berger A, Camus M, et al. Effector memory T cells, early metastasis, and survival in colorectal cancer. N Engl J Med. 2005;353:2654–66.
Samji T, Khanna KM. Understanding memory CD8(+) T cells. Immunol Lett. 2017;185:32–9.
Klaver Y, Rijnders M, Oostvogels A, et al. Differential quantities of immune checkpoint-expressing CD8 T cells in soft tissue sarcoma subtypes. J Immunother Cancer. 2020;8:e000271.
Mantovani A, Marchesi F, Malesci A, et al. Tumour-associated macrophages as treatment targets in oncology. Nat Rev Clin Oncol. 2017;14:399–416.
Cassetta L, Pollard JW. Targeting macrophages: therapeutic approaches in cancer. Nat Rev Drug Discov. 2018;17:887–904.
Dancsok AR, Gao D, Lee AF, et al. Tumor-associated macrophages and macrophage-related immune checkpoint expression in sarcomas. Oncoimmunology. 2020;9:1747340.
Shiraishi D, Fujiwara Y, Horlad H, et al. CD163 is required for protumoral activation of macrophages in human and murine sarcoma. Cancer Res. 2018;78:3255–66.
Feng M, Jiang W, Kim BYS, et al. Phagocytosis checkpoints as new targets for cancer immunotherapy. Nat Rev Cancer. 2019;19:568–86.
Tap WD, Gelderblom H, Palmerini E, et al. Pexidartinib versus placebo for advanced tenosynovial giant cell tumour (ENLIVEN): a randomised phase 3 trial. Lancet. 2019;394:478–87.
Weichselbaum RR, Liang H, Deng L, Fu YX. Radiotherapy and immunotherapy: a beneficial liaison? Nat Rev Clin Oncol. 2017;14:365–79.
Wisdom AJ, Mowery YM, Hong CS, et al. Single cell analysis reveals distinct immune landscapes in transplant and primary sarcomas that determine response or resistance to immunotherapy. Nat Commun. 2020;11:6410.
Galluzzi L, Humeau J, Buque A, et al. Immunostimulation with chemotherapy in the era of immune checkpoint inhibitors. Nat Rev Clin Oncol. 2020;17:725–41.
Ueda T, Kakunaga S, Ando M, et al. Phase I and pharmacokinetic study of trabectedin, a DNA minor groove binder, administered as a 24-h continuous infusion in Japanese patients with soft tissue sarcoma. Investig New Drugs. 2014;32:691–9.
Allavena P, Signorelli M, Chieppa M, et al. Anti-inflammatory properties of the novel antitumor agent yondelis (trabectedin): inhibition of macrophage differentiation and cytokine production. Cancer Res. 2005;65:2964–71.
Germano G, Frapolli R, Belgiovine C, et al. Role of macrophage targeting in the antitumor activity of trabectedin. Cancer Cell. 2013;23:249–62.
Belgiovine C, Bello E, Liguori M, et al. Lurbinectedin reduces tumour-associated macrophages and the inflammatory tumour microenvironment in preclinical models. Br J Cancer. 2017;117:628–38.
Wilky BA, Trucco MM, Subhawong TK, et al. Axitinib plus pembrolizumab in patients with advanced sarcomas including alveolar soft-part sarcoma: a single-centre, single-arm, phase 2 trial. Lancet Oncol. 2019;20:837–48.
Martin-Broto J, Hindi N, Grignani G, et al. Nivolumab and sunitinib combination in advanced soft tissue sarcomas: a multicenter, single-arm, phase Ib/II trial. J Immunother Cancer. 2020;8:e001561.
Keung EZ, Burgess M, Salazar R, et al. Correlative analyses of the SARC028 trial reveal an association between sarcoma-associated immune infiltrate and response to pembrolizumab. Clin Cancer Res. 2020;26:1258–66.
Zhang S, Kohli K, Black RG, et al. Systemic interferon-gamma increases MHC class I expression and T-cell infiltration in cold tumors: results of a phase 0 clinical trial. Cancer Immunol Res. 2019; https://doi.org/10.1158/2326-6066.CIR-18-0940.
Hemming ML, Fan C, Raut CP, et al. Oncogenic gene-expression programs in leiomyosarcoma and characterization of conventional, inflammatory, and uterogenic subtypes. Mol Cancer Res. 2020;18:1302–14.
Tawbi HA, Burgess M, Bolejack V, et al. Pembrolizumab in advanced soft-tissue sarcoma and bone sarcoma (SARC028): a multicentre, two-cohort, single-arm, open-label, phase 2 trial. Lancet Oncol. 2017;18:1493–501.
Lee CH, Espinosa I, Vrijaldenhoven S, et al. Prognostic significance of macrophage infiltration in leiomyosarcomas. Clin Cancer Res. 2008;14:1423–30.
Espinosa I, Beck AH, Lee CH, et al. Coordinate expression of colony-stimulating factor-1 and colony-stimulating factor-1-related proteins is associated with poor prognosis in gynecological and nongynecological leiomyosarcoma. Am J Pathol. 2009;174:2347–56.
Espinosa I, Edris B, Lee CH, et al. CSF1 expression in nongynecological leiomyosarcoma is associated with increased tumor angiogenesis. Am J Pathol. 2011;179:2100–7.
Edris B, Weiskopf K, Volkmer AK, et al. Antibody therapy targeting the CD47 protein is effective in a model of aggressive metastatic leiomyosarcoma. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2012;109:6656–61.
Tseng WW, Malu S, Zhang M, et al. Analysis of the intratumoral adaptive immune response in well differentiated and dedifferentiated retroperitoneal liposarcoma. Sarcoma. 2015;2015:547460.
Burgess MA, Bolejack V, Schuetze S, et al. Clinical activity of pembrolizumab (P) in undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma (UPS) and dedifferentiated/pleomorphic liposarcoma (LPS): final results of SARC028 expansion cohorts. J Clin Oncol. 2019;37:11015.
Beird HC, Wu CC, Ingram DR, et al. Genomic profiling of dedifferentiated liposarcoma compared to matched well-differentiated liposarcoma reveals higher genomic complexity and a common origin. Cold Spring Harb Mol Case Stud. 2018;4:a002386.
Snow H, Mitchell C, Hendry S, et al. Characterising the immune microenvironment in liposarcoma, its impact on prognosis and the impact of radiotherapy. J Surg Oncol. 2021;123:117–26.
Pollack SM, Jungbluth AA, Hoch BL, et al. NY-ESO-1 is a ubiquitous immunotherapeutic target antigen for patients with myxoid/round cell liposarcoma. Cancer. 2012;118:4564–70.
Somaiah N, Chawla SP, Block MS, et al. A phase 1b study evaluating the safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity of CMB305, a lentiviral-based prime-boost vaccine regimen, in patients with locally advanced, relapsed, or metastatic cancer expressing NY-ESO-1. Oncoimmunology. 2020;9:1847846.
Casadei L, Calore F, Braggio DA, et al. MDM2 derived from dedifferentiated liposarcoma extracellular vesicles induces MMP2 production from preadipocytes. Cancer Res. 2019;79:4911–22.
Nacev BA, Jones KB, Intlekofer AM, et al. The epigenomics of sarcoma. Nat Rev Cancer. 2020;20(10):608–23.
Lee W, Teckie S, Wiesner T, et al. PRC2 is recurrently inactivated through EED or SUZ12 loss in malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors. Nat Genet. 2014;46:1227–32.
Filippakopoulos P, Picaud S, Mangos M, et al. Histone recognition and large-scale structural analysis of the human bromodomain family. Cell. 2012;149:214–31.
Shurell E, Singh AS, Crompton JG, et al. Characterizing the immune microenvironment of malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor by PD-L1 expression and presence of CD8+ tumor infiltrating lymphocytes. Oncotarget. 2016;7:64300–8.
Wilson BG, Wang X, Shen X, et al. Epigenetic antagonism between polycomb and SWI/SNF complexes during oncogenic transformation. Cancer Cell. 2010;18:316–28.
Gounder M, Schoffski P, Jones RL, et al. Tazemetostat in advanced epithelioid sarcoma with loss of INI1/SMARCB1: an international, open-label, phase 2 basket study. Lancet Oncol. 2020;21:1423–32.
Chun HE, Johann PD, Milne K, et al. Identification and analyses of extra-cranial and cranial rhabdoid tumor molecular subgroups reveal tumors with cytotoxic T cell infiltration. Cell Rep. 2019;29:2338–2354.e2337.
Burr ML, Sparbier CE, Chan KL, et al. An evolutionarily conserved function of polycomb silences the MHC class I antigen presentation pathway and enables immune evasion in cancer. Cancer Cell. 2019;36:385–401.e388.
Zhou L, Mudianto T, Ma X, et al. Targeting EZH2 enhances antigen presentation, antitumor immunity, and circumvents Anti-PD-1 resistance in head and neck cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 2020;26:290–300.
Gounder MM, Zhu G, Roshal L, et al. Immunologic correlates of the abscopal effect in a SMARCB1/INI1-negative poorly differentiated chordoma after EZH2 inhibition and radiotherapy. Clin Cancer Res. 2019;25:2064–71.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Chen, T.WW., Su, SF., Tseng, W.W. (2022). Tumor Immune Microenvironment of Soft Tissue Sarcoma. In: Leong, S.P., Nathanson, S.D., Zager, J.S. (eds) Cancer Metastasis Through the Lymphovascular System. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-93084-4_61
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-93084-4_61
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-93083-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-93084-4
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)