The SUVmax is a measure of FDG uptake and is related with tumor aggressiveness in thyroid cancer, however, its association with molecular pathways is unclear. Here, we investigated the relationship between SUVmax and gene expression profiles in 80 papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) patients. We conducted an analysis of DEGs and enriched pathways in relation to SUVmax and tumor size. SUVmax showed a positive correlation with tumor size and correlated with glucose metabolic process. The genes that indicate thyroid differentiation, such as SLC5A5 and TPO, were negatively correlated with SUVmax. Unsupervised analysis revealed that SUVmax positively correlated with DNA replication(r = 0.29, p = 0.009), pyrimidine metabolism(r = 0.50, p < 0.0001) and purine metabolism (r = 0.42, p = 0.0001). Based on subgroups analysis, we identified that PSG5, TFF3, SOX2, SL5A5, SLC5A7, HOXD10, FER1L6, and IFNA1 genes were found to be significantly associated with tumor aggressiveness. Both high SUVmax PTMC and macro-PTC are enriched in pathways of DNA replication and cell cycle, however, gene sets for purine metabolic pathways are enriched only in high SUVmax macro-PTC but not in high SUVmax PTMC. Our findings demonstrate the molecular characteristics of high SUVmax tumor and metabolism involved in tumor growth in differentiated thyroid cancer.

Neutrophil heterogeneity is involved in autoimmune diseases, sepsis, and several cancers. However, the link between neutrophil heterogeneity and T-cell immunity in thyroid cancer is incompletely understood. We investigated the circulating neutrophil heterogeneity in 3 undifferentiated thyroid cancer (UTC), 14 differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) (4 Stage IV, 10 Stage I-II), and healthy controls (n = 10) by transcriptomic data and cytometry. Participants with UTC had a significantly higher proportion of immature high-density neutrophils (HDN) and lower proportion of mature HDN in peripheral blood compared to DTC. The proportion of circulating PD-L1+ immature neutrophils were significantly increased in advanced cancer patients. Unsupervised analysis of transcriptomics data from circulating HDN revealed downregulation of innate immune response and T-cell receptor signaling pathway in cancer patients. Moreover, UTC patients revealed the upregulation of glycolytic process and glutamate receptor signaling pathway. Comparative analysis across tumor types and stages revealed the downregulation of various T-cell-related pathways, such as T-cell receptor signaling pathway and T-cell proliferation in advanced cancer patients. Moreover, the proportions of CD8+ and CD4+ T effector memory CD45RA+ (TEMRA) cells from peripheral blood were significantly decreased in UTC patients compared to DTC patients. Finally, we demonstrated that proportions of tumor-infiltrated neutrophils were increased and related with poor prognosis in advanced thyroid cancer using data from our RNA-seq and TCGA (The Cancer Genome Atlas) data. In conclusion, observed prevalence of circulating immature high-density neutrophils and their immunosuppressive features in undifferentiated thyroid cancers underscore the importance of understanding neutrophil dynamics in the context of tumor progression in thyroid cancer.

Background and aims

Targeting costimulatory receptors with agonistic antibodies is a promising cancer immunotherapy option. We aimed to investigate costimulatory receptor expression, particularly 4-1BB (CD137 or tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily member 9), on tumor-infiltrating CD8⁺ T cells (CD8⁺ tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes [TILs]) and its association with distinct T-cell activation features among exhausted CD8⁺ TILs in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Approach and results

Tumor tissues, adjacent nontumor tissues, and peripheral blood were collected from HCC patients undergoing surgical resection (n = 79). Lymphocytes were isolated and used for multicolor flow cytometry, RNA-sequencing, and in vitro functional restoration assays. Among the examined costimulatory receptors, 4-1BB was most prominently expressed on CD8⁺ TILs. 4-1BB expression was almost exclusively detected on CD8⁺ T cells in the tumor-especially on programmed death 1 (PD-1)^high cells and not PD-1^int and PD-1^neg cells. Compared to PD-1^int and 4-1BB^neg PD-1^high CD8⁺ TILs, 4-1BB^pos PD-1^high CD8⁺ TILs exhibited higher levels of tumor reactivity and T-cell activation markers and significant enrichment for T-cell activation gene signatures. Per-patient analysis revealed positive correlations between percentages of 4-1BB^pos cells among CD8⁺ TILs and levels of parameters of tumor reactivity and T-cell activation. Among highly exhausted PD-1^high CD8⁺ TILs, 4-1BB^pos cells harbored higher proportions of cells with proliferative and reinvigoration potential. Our 4-1BB-related gene signature predicted survival outcomes of HCC patients in the The Cancer Genome Atlas cohort. 4-1BB agonistic antibodies enhanced the function of CD8⁺ TILs and further enhanced the anti-PD-1-mediated reinvigoration of CD8⁺ TILs, especially in cases showing high levels of T-cell activation.

Conclusion

4-1BB expression on CD8⁺ TILs represents a distinct activation state among highly exhausted CD8⁺ T cells in HCC. 4-1BB costimulation with agonistic antibodies may be a promising strategy for treating HCCs exhibiting prominent T-cell activation.

The role of the serine/glycine metabolic pathway (SGP) has recently been demonstrated in tumors; however, the pathological relevance of the SGP in thyroid cancer remains unexplored. Here, we perform metabolomic profiling of 17 tumor-normal pairs; bulk transcriptomics of 263 normal thyroid, 348 papillary, and 21 undifferentiated thyroid cancer samples; and single-cell transcriptomes from 15 cases, showing the impact of mitochondrial one-carbon metabolism in thyroid tumors. High expression of serine hydroxymethyltransferase-2 (SHMT2) and methylenetetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase 2 (MTHFD2) is associated with low thyroid differentiation scores and poor clinical features. A subpopulation of tumor cells with high mitochondrial one-carbon pathway activity is observed in the single-cell dataset. SHMT2 inhibition significantly compromises mitochondrial respiration and decreases cell proliferation and tumor size in vitro and in vivo. Collectively, our results highlight the importance of the mitochondrial one-carbon pathway in undifferentiated thyroid cancer and suggest that SHMT2 is a potent therapeutic target.