Holding our breath: the promise of tissue-resident memory T cells in lung cancer

Claire Marceaux; Clare E Weeden; Claire L Gordon; Marie-Liesse Asselin-Labat

doi:10.21037/tlcr-20-819

Holding our breath: the promise of tissue-resident memory T cells in lung cancer

Transl Lung Cancer Res. 2021 Jun;10(6):2819-2829. doi: 10.21037/tlcr-20-819.

Authors

Claire Marceaux^{1

2}, Clare E Weeden^{1

2}, Claire L Gordon^{3

4}, Marie-Liesse Asselin-Labat^{1

2

5}

Affiliations

¹ Personalised Oncology Division, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Parkville, Australia.
² Department of Medical Biology, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia.
³ Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The Peter Doherty Institute, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia.
⁴ Department of Infectious Diseases, Austin Health, Heidelberg, Australia.
⁵ Cancer Early Detection and Advanced Research Center, Knight Cancer Institute, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, USA.

Abstract

T cell memory is critical in controlling infection and plays an important role in anti-tumor responses in solid cancers. While effector memory and central memory T cells circulate and patrol non-lymphoid and lymphoid organs respectively, tissue resident memory T cells (T_RM) permanently reside in tissues and provide local protective immune responses. In a number of solid tumors, tumor-specific T cell memory responses likely play an important role in keeping tumors in check, limiting cancer cell dissemination and reducing risk of relapse. In non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), a subset of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) display phenotypic and functional characteristics associated with lung T_RM (T_RM-like TILs), including the expression of tissue-specific homing molecules and immune exhaustion markers. High infiltration of T_RM-like TILs correlates with better survival outcomes for lung cancer patients, indicating that T_RM-like TILs may contribute to anti-tumor responses. However, a number of T_RM-like TILs do not display tumor specificity and the exact role of T_RM-like TILs in mediating anti-tumor response in lung cancer is unclear. Here we review the characteristics of T_RM-like TILs in lung cancer, the role these cells play in mediating anti-tumor immunity and the therapeutic implications of T_RM-like TILs in the use and development of immunotherapy for lung cancer.

Keywords: Tissue-resident memory T cells; immunosurveillance; immunotherapy; lung cancer.

Publication types

Review