Imperial College London

DrEhsanGhorani

Faculty of MedicineDepartment of Surgery & Cancer

Clinical Senior Lecturer in Medical Oncology
 
 
 
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e.ghorani

 
 
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Commonwealth BuildingHammersmith Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Publication Type
Year
to

43 results found

Mariniello A, Nasti TH, Chang DY, Hashimoto M, Malik S, McManus D, Lee J, McGuire D, Cardenas MA, Umana P, Nicolini V, Antia R, Saha A, Buchwald Z, Kissick H, Ghorani E, Novello S, Sangiolo D, Scagliotti GV, Ramalingam SS, Ahmed Ret al., 2023, Platinum-based chemotherapy attenuates the effector response of CD8 T cells to concomitant PD-1 blockade., Clin Cancer Res

PURPOSE: Combination of chemotherapy (CT) with programmed cell death (PD)-1 blockade is a front-line treatment for lung cancer. However, it remains unknown whether and how CT affects the response of exhausted CD8 T cells to PD-1 blockade. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: We used the well-established mouse model of T cell exhaustion with chronic lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) infection to assess the effect of CT (cisplatin+pemetrexed) on T cell response to PD-1 blockade, in the absence of the impact of CT on antigen release and presentation observed in tumor models. RESULTS: When concomitantly administered with PD-1 blockade, CT affected the differentiation path of LCMV-specific CD8 T cells from stem-like to transitory effector cells, thereby reducing their expansion and production of interferon (IFN)-γ. After combination treatment, these restrained effector responses resulted in impaired viral control, compared to PD-1 blockade alone. The sequential combination strategy, where PD-1 blockade followed CT, proved to be superior to the concomitant combination, preserving the proliferative response of exhausted CD8 T cells to PD-1 blockade. Our findings suggest that the stem-like CD8 T cells themselves are relatively unaffected by CT partly because they are quiescent and maintained by slow self-renewal at the steady state. However, upon the proliferative burst mediated by PD-1 blockade, the accelerated differentiation and self-renewal of stem-like cells may be curbed by concomitant CT, ultimately resulting in impaired overall CD8 T cell effector functions. CONCLUSIONS: In a translational context, we provide a proof-of-concept to consider optimizing the timing of chemo-immunotherapy strategies for improved CD8 T cell functions.

Journal article

Ghorani E, Swanton C, Quezada SA, 2023, Cancer cell-intrinsic mechanisms driving acquired immune tolerance., Immunity, Vol: 56, Pages: 2270-2295

Immune evasion is a hallmark of cancer, enabling tumors to survive contact with the host immune system and evade the cycle of immune recognition and destruction. Here, we review the current understanding of the cancer cell-intrinsic factors driving immune evasion. We focus on T cells as key effectors of anti-cancer immunity and argue that cancer cells evade immune destruction by gaining control over pathways that usually serve to maintain physiological tolerance to self. Using this framework, we place recent mechanistic advances in the understanding of cancer immune evasion into broad categories of control over T cell localization, antigen recognition, and acquisition of optimal effector function. We discuss the redundancy in the pathways involved and identify knowledge gaps that must be overcome to better target immune evasion, including the need for better, routinely available tools that incorporate the growing understanding of evasion mechanisms to stratify patients for therapy and trials.

Journal article

Ghorani E, Quartagno M, Blackhall F, Gilbert DC, O'Brien M, Ottensmeier C, Pizzo E, Spicer J, Williams A, Badman P, Parmar MKB, Seckl MJet al., 2023, REFINE-Lung implements a novel multi-arm randomisedtrial design to address possible immunotherapy overtreatment, The Lancet Oncology, Vol: 24, Pages: E219-E227, ISSN: 1213-9432

Increasing evidence suggests that some immunotherapy dosing regimens for patients with advanced cancer could result in overtreatment. Given the high costs of these agents, and important implications for quality of life and toxicity, new approaches are needed to identify and reduce unnecessary treatment. Conventional two-arm non-inferiority designs are inefficient in this context because they require large numbers of patients to explore a single alternative to the standard of care. Here, we discuss the potential problem of overtreatment with anti-PD-1 directed agents in general and introduce REFINE-Lung (NCT05085028), a UK multicentre phase 3 study of reduced frequency pembrolizumab in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer. REFINE-Lung uses a novel multi-arm multi-stage response over continuous interventions (MAMS-ROCI) design to determine the optimal dose frequency of pembrolizumab. Along with a similarly designed basket study of patients with renal cancer and melanoma, REFINE-Lung and the MAMS-ROCI design could contribute to practice-changing advances in patient care and form a template for future immunotherapy optimisation studies across cancer types and indications. This new trial design is applicable to many new or existing agents for which optimisation of dose, frequency, or duration of therapy is desirable.

Journal article

Qing C, Ghorani E, 2023, Two faces: IL-22 effects prevail over defense against metastasis., Immunity, Vol: 56, Pages: 6-8

Interleukin-22 (IL-22) is a cytokine with pleotropic and opposing roles in physiological and pathological states. In this issue of Immunity, Giannou et al. and Briukhovetska et al. demonstrate how IL-22 is involved in promoting cancer metastasis formation.

Journal article

Merrick S, Nankivell M, Quartagno M, Clarke CS, Joharatnam-Hogan N, Waddell T, O'Carrigan B, Seckl M, Ghorani E, Banks E, Edmonds K, Bray G, Woodward R, Bennett R, Badrock J, Hudson W, Langley RE, Vasudev N, Pickering L, Gilbert DCet al., 2023, REFINE (REduced Frequency ImmuNE checkpoint inhibition in cancers): A multi-arm phase II basket trial testing reduced intensity immunotherapy across different cancers, CONTEMPORARY CLINICAL TRIALS, Vol: 124, ISSN: 1551-7144

Journal article

Kuah CY, Monfries R, Quartagno M, Seckl MJ, Ghorani Eet al., 2023, What is the optimal duration, dose and frequency for anti-PD1 therapy of non-small cell lung cancer?, Ther Adv Med Oncol, Vol: 15, ISSN: 1758-8340

Over the past decade, immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have transformed the management of multiple malignancies including lung cancer. However, the optimal use of these agents in terms of duration, dose and administration frequency remains unknown. Focusing on anti-PD1 agents nivolumab and pembrolizumab in the context of non-small cell lung cancer, we argue that several lines of evidence suggest current administration regimens of these drugs may result in overtreatment with potentially important implications for cost, quality of life and toxicity. This review summarizes evidence for the scope to optimize anti-PD1 regimens, the limitations of existing data and potential approaches to solve these problems including with a novel multi-arm clinical trial design implemented in the recently opened REFINE-Lung study.

Journal article

Ghorani E, Seckl MJ, 2022, Emergency craniotomy: a life-saving procedure as part of multi-modal therapy of GTN, JOURNAL OF GYNECOLOGIC ONCOLOGY, Vol: 33, ISSN: 2005-0380

Journal article

Maher G, Fisher RA, Kaur B, Aguiar X, Aravind P, Cedeno N, Clark J, Damon D, Ghorani E, Januszewski A, Kalofonou F, Murphy R, Roy R, Sarwar N, Openshaw MR, Seckl MJet al., 2022, Sensitive screening of single nucleotide polymorphisms in cell free DNA for diagnosis of gestational tumours, npj Genomic Medicine, Vol: 7, Pages: 1-8, ISSN: 2056-7944

Tumours expressing human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), the majority of which are difficult to biopsy due to their vascularity, have disparate prognoses depending on their origin. As optimal management relies on accurate diagnosis, we aimed to develop a sensitive cell free DNA (cfDNA) assay to non-invasively distinguish between cases of gestational and non-gestational origin. Deep error-corrected Illumina sequencing of 195 common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in cfDNA and matched genomic DNA from 36 patients with hCG-secreting tumours (serum hCG 5 to 3,042,881 IU/L) and 7 controls with normal hCG levels (≤ 4 IU/L) was performed. cfDNA from confirmed gestational tumours with hCG levels ranging from 1,497 to 700,855 IU/L had multiple (n ≥12) ‘non-host’ alleles (i.e. alleles of paternal origin). In such cases the non-host fraction of cfDNA ranged from 0.3% - 40.4% and correlated with serum hCG levels. At lower hCG levels the ability to detect non-host cfDNA was variable, with the detection limit dependent on the type of causative pregnancy. Patients with non-gestational tumours were identifiable by the absence of non-host cfDNA, with copy number alterations detectable in the majority of cases. Following validation in a larger cohort, our sensitive assay will enable clinicians to better inform patients, for whom biopsy is inappropriate, of their prognosis and provide optimum management.

Journal article

Au L, Hatipoglu E, de Massy MR, Litchfield K, Beattie G, Rowan A, Schnidrig D, Thompson R, Byrne F, Horswell S, Fotiadis N, Hazell S, Nicol D, Shepherd STC, Fendler A, Mason R, Del Rosario L, Edmonds K, Lingard K, Sarker S, Mangwende M, Carlyle E, Attig J, Joshi K, Uddin I, Becker PD, Sunderland MW, Akarca A, Puccio I, Yang WW, Lund T, Dhillon K, Vasquez MD, Ghorani E, Xu H, Spencer C, Lopez J, Green A, Mahadeva U, Borg E, Mitchison M, Moore DA, Proctor I, Falzon M, Pickering L, Furness AJS, Reading JL, Salgado R, Marafioti T, Jamal-Hanjani M, Kassiotis G, Chain B, Larkin J, Swanton C, Quezada SA, Turajlic Set al., 2021, Determinants of anti-PD-1 response and resistance in clear cell renal cell carcinoma, CANCER CELL, Vol: 39, Pages: 1497-+, ISSN: 1535-6108

Journal article

Bentham R, Litchfield K, Watkins TBK, Lim EL, Rosenthal R, Martínez-Ruiz C, Hiley CT, Bakir MA, Salgado R, Moore DA, Jamal-Hanjani M, TRACERx Consortium, Swanton C, McGranahan Net al., 2021, Using DNA sequencing data to quantify T cell fraction and therapy response., Nature, Vol: 597, Pages: 555-560

The immune microenvironment influences tumour evolution and can be both prognostic and predict response to immunotherapy1,2. However, measurements of tumour infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) are limited by a shortage of appropriate data. Whole-exome sequencing (WES) of DNA is frequently performed to calculate tumour mutational burden and identify actionable mutations. Here we develop T cell exome TREC tool (T cell ExTRECT), a method for estimation of T cell fraction from WES samples using a signal from T cell receptor excision circle (TREC) loss during V(D)J recombination of the T cell receptor-α gene (TCRA (also known as TRA)). TCRA T cell fraction correlates with orthogonal TIL estimates and is agnostic to sample type. Blood TCRA T cell fraction is higher in females than in males and correlates with both tumour immune infiltrate and presence of bacterial sequencing reads. Tumour TCRA T cell fraction is prognostic in lung adenocarcinoma. Using a meta-analysis of tumours treated with immunotherapy, we show that tumour TCRA T cell fraction predicts immunotherapy response, providing value beyond measuring tumour mutational burden. Applying T cell ExTRECT to a multi-sample pan-cancer cohort reveals a high diversity of the degree of immune infiltration within tumours. Subclonal loss of 12q24.31-32, encompassing SPPL3, is associated with reduced TCRA T cell fraction. T cell ExTRECT provides a cost-effective technique to characterize immune infiltrate alongside somatic changes.

Journal article

Braga A, Paiva G, Ghorani E, Freitas F, Velarde LGC, Kaur B, Unsworth N, Lozano-Kuehne J, Esteves APVDS, Filho JR, Amim Jr J, Aguiar X, Sarwar N, Elias KM, Horowitz NS, Berkowitz RS, Seckl MJet al., 2021, Predictors for single-agent resistance in FIGO score 5 or 6 gestational trophoblastic neoplasia: a multicentre, retrospective, cohort study, LANCET ONCOLOGY, Vol: 22, Pages: 1188-1198, ISSN: 1470-2045

Journal article

Seckl MJ, Ghorani E, 2021, Progress to international harmonisation of care and future developments, BEST PRACTICE & RESEARCH CLINICAL OBSTETRICS & GYNAECOLOGY, Vol: 74, Pages: 159-167, ISSN: 1521-6934

Journal article

Porter A, Barcelon JM, Budker RL, Marsh L, Moriarty JM, Aguiar X, Rao J, Ghorani E, Kaur B, Maher G, Seckl MJ, Konecny GE, Cohen JGet al., 2021, Treatment of metastatic placental site trophoblastic tumor with surgery, chemotherapy, immunotherapy and coil embolization of multiple pulmonary arteriovenous fistulate, Gynecologic Oncology Reports, Vol: 36, Pages: 1-4, ISSN: 2352-5789

Placental Site Trophoblastic Tumor (PSTT) is a rare malignancy that often presents with extensive disease and can be resistant to traditional treatments. We present the case of a woman with stage IV PSTT who was initially managed with neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by tumor debulking. Adjuvant therapy was guided by further pathologic analysis that revealed high levels of staining for PD-L1 as well as the presence of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs). Subsequently, the patient was treated with traditional chemotherapy with the EP/EMA regimen with the addition of pembrolizumab. The patient’s treatment course was complicated by the development of pulmonary arteriovenous malformations, autoimmune thyroiditis thought to be secondary to immunotherapy, and significant tinnitus secondary to platinum agents. Currently the patient is in follow up and remains in a complete remission.

Journal article

Solomon I, Amann M, Goubier A, Arce Vargas F, Zervas D, Qing C, Henry JY, Ghorani E, Akarca AU, Marafioti T, sledzinska A, Werner Sunderland M, Franz Demane D, Clancy JR, Georgiou A, Salimu J, Merchiers P, Brown MA, Flury R, Eckmann J, Murgia C, Sam J, Jacobsen B, Marrer-Berger E, Boetsch C, Belli S, Leibrock L, Benz J, Koll H, Sutmuller R, Peggs KS, Quezada SAet al., 2020, CD25-T<sub>reg</sub>-depleting antibodies preserving IL-2 signaling on effector T cells enhance effector activation and antitumor immunity, NATURE CANCER, Vol: 1, Pages: 1153-+

Journal article

Bouchard-Fortier G, Ghorani E, Short D, Aguiar X, Harvey R, Unsworth N, Kaur B, Sarwar N, Seckl MJet al., 2020, Following chemotherapy for gestational trophoblastic neoplasia, do residual lung lesions increase the risk of relapse?, GYNECOLOGIC ONCOLOGY, Vol: 158, Pages: 698-701, ISSN: 0090-8258

Journal article

Alrasheed N, Lee L, Ghorani E, Henry JY, Conde L, Chin M, Galas-Filipowicz D, Furness AJS, Chavda SJ, Richards H, De-Silva D, Cohen OC, Patel D, Brooks A, Rodriguez-Justo M, Pule M, Herrero J, Quezada SA, Yong KLet al., 2020, Marrow-Infiltrating Regulatory T Cells Correlate with the Presence of Dysfunctional CD4+PD-1+ Cells and Inferior Survival in Patients with Newly Diagnosed Multiple Myeloma., Clin Cancer Res, Vol: 26, Pages: 3443-3454

PURPOSE: Immune dysregulation is described in multiple myeloma. While preclinical models suggest a role for altered T-cell immunity in disease progression, the contribution of immune dysfunction to clinical outcomes remains unclear. We aimed to characterize marrow-infiltrating T cells in newly diagnosed patients and explore associations with outcomes of first-line therapy. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: We undertook detailed characterization of T cells from bone marrow (BM) samples, focusing on immune checkpoints and features of immune dysfunction, correlating with clinical features and progression-free survival. RESULTS: We found that patients with multiple myeloma had greater abundance of BM regulatory T cells (Tregs) which, in turn, expressed higher levels of the activation marker CD25 compared with healthy donors. Patients with higher frequencies of Tregs had shorter PFS and a distinct Treg immune checkpoint profile (increased PD-1, LAG-3) compared with patients with lower frequencies of Tregs. Analysis of CD4 and CD8 effectors revealed that low CD4effector (CD4eff):Treg ratio and increased frequency of PD-1-expressing CD4eff cells were independent predictors of early relapse over and above conventional risk factors, such as genetic risk and depth of response. Ex vivo functional analysis and RNA sequencing revealed that CD4 and CD8 cells from patients with greater abundance of CD4effPD-1+ cells displayed transcriptional and secretory features of dysfunction. CONCLUSIONS: BM-infiltrating T-cell subsets, specifically Tregs and PD-1-expressing CD4 effectors, negatively influence clinical outcomes in newly diagnosed patients. Pending confirmation in larger cohorts and further mechanistic work, these immune parameters may inform new risk models, and present potential targets for immunotherapeutic strategies.

Journal article

Biswas D, Birkbak NJ, Rosenthal R, Hiley CT, Lim EL, Papp K, Boeing S, Krzystanek M, Djureinovic D, La Fleur L, Greco M, Döme B, Fillinger J, Brunnström H, Wu Y, Moore DA, Skrzypski M, Abbosh C, Litchfield K, Al Bakir M, Watkins TBK, Veeriah S, Wilson GA, Jamal-Hanjani M, Moldvay J, Botling J, Chinnaiyan AM, Micke P, Hackshaw A, Bartek J, Csabai I, Szallasi Z, Herrero J, McGranahan N, Swanton C, TRACERx Consortiumet al., 2020, Publisher Correction: A clonal expression biomarker associates with lung cancer mortality., Nat Med, Vol: 26

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Journal article

AbdulJabbar K, Raza SEA, Rosenthal R, Jamal-Hanjani M, Veeriah S, Akarca A, Lund T, Moore DA, Salgado R, Al Bakir M, Zapata L, Hiley CT, Officer L, Sereno M, Smith CR, Loi S, Hackshaw A, Marafioti T, Quezada SA, McGranahan N, Le Quesne J, TRACERx Consortium, Swanton C, Yuan Yet al., 2020, Geospatial immune variability illuminates differential evolution of lung adenocarcinoma., Nat Med, Vol: 26, Pages: 1054-1062

Remarkable progress in molecular analyses has improved our understanding of the evolution of cancer cells toward immune escape1-5. However, the spatial configurations of immune and stromal cells, which may shed light on the evolution of immune escape across tumor geographical locations, remain unaddressed. We integrated multiregion exome and RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) data with spatial histology mapped by deep learning in 100 patients with non-small cell lung cancer from the TRACERx cohort6. Cancer subclones derived from immune cold regions were more closely related in mutation space, diversifying more recently than subclones from immune hot regions. In TRACERx and in an independent multisample cohort of 970 patients with lung adenocarcinoma, tumors with more than one immune cold region had a higher risk of relapse, independently of tumor size, stage and number of samples per patient. In lung adenocarcinoma, but not lung squamous cell carcinoma, geometrical irregularity and complexity of the cancer-stromal cell interface significantly increased in tumor regions without disruption of antigen presentation. Decreased lymphocyte accumulation in adjacent stroma was observed in tumors with low clonal neoantigen burden. Collectively, immune geospatial variability elucidates tumor ecological constraints that may shape the emergence of immune-evading subclones and aggressive clinical phenotypes.

Journal article

Joshi K, de Massy MR, Ismail M, Reading JL, Uddin I, Woolston A, Hatipoglu E, Oakes T, Rosenthal R, Peacock T, Ronel T, Noursadeghi M, Turati V, Furness AJS, Georgiou A, Wong YNS, Ben Aissa A, Sunderland MW, Jamal-Hanjani M, Veeriah S, Birkbak NJ, Wilson GA, Hiley CT, Ghorani E, Guerra-Assunção JA, Herrero J, Enver T, Hadrup SR, Hackshaw A, Peggs KS, McGranahan N, Swanton C, TRACERx consortium, Quezada SA, Chain Bet al., 2020, Publisher Correction: Spatial heterogeneity of the T cell receptor repertoire reflects the mutational landscape in lung cancer., Nat Med, Vol: 26

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Journal article

Ghorani E, Reading JL, Henry JY, Massy MRD, Rosenthal R, Turati V, Joshi K, Furness AJS, Ben Aissa A, Saini SK, Ramskov S, Georgiou A, Sunderland MW, Wong YNS, Mucha MVD, Day W, Galvez-Cancino F, Becker PD, Uddin I, Oakes T, Ismail M, Ronel T, Woolston A, Jamal-Hanjani M, Veeriah S, Birkbak NJ, Wilson GA, Litchfield K, Conde L, Guerra-Assunção JA, Blighe K, Biswas D, Salgado R, Lund T, Bakir MA, Moore DA, Hiley CT, Loi S, Sun Y, Yuan Y, AbdulJabbar K, Turajilic S, Herrero J, Enver T, Hadrup SR, Hackshaw A, Peggs KS, McGranahan N, Chain B, TRACERx Consortium, Swanton C, Quezada SAet al., 2020, The T cell differentiation landscape is shaped by tumour mutations in lung cancer., Nat Cancer, Vol: 1, Pages: 546-561

Tumour mutational burden (TMB) predicts immunotherapy outcome in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), consistent with immune recognition of tumour neoantigens. However, persistent antigen exposure is detrimental for T cell function. How TMB affects CD4 and CD8 T cell differentiation in untreated tumours, and whether this affects patient outcomes is unknown. Here we paired high-dimensional flow cytometry, exome, single-cell and bulk RNA sequencing from patients with resected, untreated NSCLC to examine these relationships. TMB was associated with compartment-wide T cell differentiation skewing, characterized by loss of TCF7-expressing progenitor-like CD4 T cells, and an increased abundance of dysfunctional CD8 and CD4 T cell subsets, with significant phenotypic and transcriptional similarity to neoantigen-reactive CD8 T cells. A gene signature of redistribution from progenitor-like to dysfunctional states associated with poor survival in lung and other cancer cohorts. Single-cell characterization of these populations informs potential strategies for therapeutic manipulation in NSCLC.

Journal article

Lopez S, Lim EL, Horswell S, Haase K, Huebner A, Dietzen M, Mourikis TP, Watkins TBK, Rowan A, Dewhurst SM, Birkbak NJ, Wilson GA, Van Loo P, Jamal-Hanjani M, Swanton C, McGranahan Net al., 2020, Interplay between whole-genome doubling and the accumulation of deleterious alterations in cancer evolution, NATURE GENETICS, Vol: 52, Pages: 283-+, ISSN: 1061-4036

Journal article

Sledzinska A, de Mucha MV, Bergerhoff K, Hotblack A, Demane DF, Ghorani E, Akarca AU, Marzolini MA, Solomon I, Vargas FA, Pule M, Ono M, Seddon B, Kassiotis G, Ariyan CE, Kom T, Marafioti T, Lord GM, Stauss H, Jenner RG, Peggs KS, Quezada SAet al., 2020, Regulatory T Cells Restrain Interleukin-2-and Blimp-1-Dependent Acquisition of Cytotoxic Function by CD4<SUP>+</SUP> T Cells, IMMUNITY, Vol: 52, Pages: 151-+, ISSN: 1074-7613

Journal article

Feretis M, Wang T, Ghorani E, Balakrishnan A, Harper SJ, Jah A, Huguet EL, Praseedom RK, Liau S-Set al., 2019, A rational approach to postoperative surveillance for resected non-functional pancreatic neuro-endocrine tumours., Pancreatology, Vol: 19, Pages: 1000-1007

BACKGROUND: Non-functional pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours (NF-PNETs) are rare and have highly variable outcomes. Current guidelines recommend surveillance for NF-PNETs <2 cm. Patients who ultimately have surgical resection are at risk of disease recurrence, and data to support postoperative surveillance protocols are lacking. The aims of this study were to i) identify post-operative predictors of recurrence and ii) risk stratify patients at risk of recurrence. METHODS: Consecutive patients who underwent surgery for NF-PNETs between 2002 and 2015 were identified retrospectively. Data were collected on demographics, pre-operative laboratory results and histopathological tumour characteristics. Statistical analyses were based on penalised Cox-regression modelling and a decision-tree model. Comparison of the variables identified was performed using ROC curves to identify the most sensitive and specific variable associated with disease recurrence. RESULTS: We identified 73 patients (38 males) with a median age of 61.5 years (range: 31-79). The median period of follow-up was 49 months (5-131). During follow up, 10 deaths (13.9%) were recorded and disease recurrence occurred in 12 patients (16.4%). The Kaplan-Meier predicted 1-,3- and 5-year recurrence-free survival rates were 98.6% (95% CI = 95.9, 100%), 85.4% (76.9-94.8%) and 72% (58.7-88.2%) respectively. Cox multivariate analysis identified poor tumour differentiation (WHO G3 grade) and lymph node ratio (LNR) as independent predictors for recurrence (p < 0.05). A simple criterion of 'tumour grade G3 or LNR ≥0.1' was found to be sensitive and specific in detecting disease recurrence. CONCLUSION: Our results have identified a simple and sensitive criterion for risk stratifying post-resection surveillance. Prospective validation in larger patient cohort is now warranted.

Journal article

Balachandran K, Salawu A, Ghorani E, Kaur B, Sebire NJ, Short D, Harvey R, Hancock B, Tidy J, Singh K, Sarwar N, Winter MC, Seckl MJet al., 2019, When to stop human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) surveillance after treatment with chemotherapy for gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN): A national analysis on over 4,000 patients, GYNECOLOGIC ONCOLOGY, Vol: 155, Pages: 8-12, ISSN: 0090-8258

Journal article

Joshi K, de Massy MR, Ismail M, Reading JL, Uddin I, Woolston A, Hatipoglu E, Oakes T, Rosenthal R, Peacock T, Ronel T, Noursadeghi M, Turati V, Furness AJS, Georgiou A, Wong YNS, Ben Aissa A, Sunderland MW, Jamal-Hanjani M, Veeriah S, Birkbak NJ, Wilson GA, Hiley CT, Ghorani E, Guerra-Assunção JA, Herrero J, Enver T, Hadrup SR, Hackshaw A, Peggs KS, McGranahan N, Swanton C, TRACERx consortium, Quezada SA, Chain Bet al., 2019, Spatial heterogeneity of the T cell receptor repertoire reflects the mutational landscape in lung cancer., Nat Med, Vol: 25, Pages: 1549-1559

Somatic mutations together with immunoediting drive extensive heterogeneity within non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Herein we examine heterogeneity of the T cell antigen receptor (TCR) repertoire. The number of TCR sequences selectively expanded in tumors varies within and between tumors and correlates with the number of nonsynonymous mutations. Expanded TCRs can be subdivided into TCRs found in all tumor regions (ubiquitous) and those present in a subset of regions (regional). The number of ubiquitous and regional TCRs correlates with the number of ubiquitous and regional nonsynonymous mutations, respectively. Expanded TCRs form part of clusters of TCRs of similar sequence, suggestive of a spatially constrained antigen-driven process. CD8+ tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes harboring ubiquitous TCRs display a dysfunctional tissue-resident phenotype. Ubiquitous TCRs are preferentially detected in the blood at the time of tumor resection as compared to routine follow-up. These findings highlight a noninvasive method to identify and track relevant tumor-reactive TCRs for use in adoptive T cell immunotherapy.

Journal article

Menares E, Gálvez-Cancino F, Cáceres-Morgado P, Ghorani E, López E, Díaz X, Saavedra-Almarza J, Figueroa DA, Roa E, Quezada SA, Lladser Aet al., 2019, Tissue-resident memory CD8+ T cells amplify anti-tumor immunity by triggering antigen spreading through dendritic cells., Nat Commun, Vol: 10

Tissue-resident memory CD8+ T (Trm) cells mediate potent local innate and adaptive immune responses and play a central role against solid tumors. However, whether Trm cells cross-talk with dendritic cells (DCs) to support anti-tumor immunity remains unclear. Here we show that antigen-specific activation of skin Trm cells leads to maturation and migration to draining lymph nodes of cross-presenting dermal DCs. Tumor rejection mediated by Trm cells triggers the spread of cytotoxic CD8+ T cell responses against tumor-derived neo- and self-antigens via dermal DCs. These responses suppress the growth of intradermal tumors and disseminated melanoma lacking the Trm cell-targeted epitope. Moreover, analysis of RNA sequencing data from human melanoma tumors reveals that enrichment of a Trm cell gene signature associates with DC activation and improved survival. This work unveils the ability of Trm cells to amplify the breath of cytotoxic CD8+ T cell responses through DCs, thereby strengthening anti-tumor immunity.

Journal article

Rosenthal R, Cadieux EL, Salgado R, Al Bakir M, Moore DA, Hiley CT, Lund T, Tanic M, Reading JL, Joshi K, Henry JY, Ghorani E, Wilson GA, Birkbak NJ, Jamal-Hanjani M, Veeriah S, Szallasi Z, Loi S, Hellmann MD, Feber A, Chain B, Herrero J, Quezada SA, Demeulemeester J, Van Loo P, Beck S, McGranahan N, Swanton C, Swanton C, Jamal-Hanjani M, Czyzewska-Khan J, Johnson D, Laycock J, Rosenthal R, Gorman P, Hynds RE, Wilson G, Birkbak NJ, Watkins TBK, McGranahan N, Escudero M, Stewart A, Van Loo P, Rowan A, Hiley C, Abbosh C, Goldman J, Stone RK, Denner T, Ward S, Nye E, Ben Aissa A, Wong YNS, Georgiou A, Quezada S, Hartley JA, Lowe HL, Lawrence D, Hayward M, Panagiotopoulos N, Falzon M, Borg E, Marafioti T, Janes SM, Forster M, Ahmad T, Lee SM, Papadatos-Pastos D, Carnell D, Mendes R, George J, Ahmed A, Taylor M, Choudhary J, Summers Y, Califano R, Taylor P, Shah R, Krysiak P, Rammohan K, Fontaine E, Booton R, Evison M, Crosbie P, Moss S, Joseph L, Bishop P, Quinn AM, Doran H, Leek A, Harrison P, Moore K, Waddington R, Novasio J, Blackhall F, Rogan J, Smith E, Dive C, Tugwood J, Brady G, Rothwell DG, Pierce J, Gulati S, Naidu B, Langman G, Trotter S, Bancroft H, Kerr A, Kadiri S, Middleton G, Djearaman M, Fennell D, Shaw JA, Le Quesne J, Moore DA, Nakas A, Rathinam S, Monteiro W, Marshall H, Nelson L, Riley J, Primrose L, Martinson L, Anand G, Khan S, Nicolson M, Kerr K, Palmer S, Remmen H, Miller J, Buchan K, Chetty M, Gomersall L, Lester J, Morgan F, Adams H, Davies H, Kornaszewska M, Attanoos R, Lock S, MacKenzie M, Wilcox M, Bell H, Hackshaw A, Ngai Y, Smith S, Gower N, Ottensmeier C, Chee S, Johnson B, Alzetani A, Shaw E, Lim E, De Sousa P, Barbosa MT, Bowman A, Jordan S, Rice A, Raubenheimer H, Bhayani H, Hamilton M, Mensah N, Ambrose L, Devaraj A, Chavan H, Nicholson AG, Lau K, Sheaff M, Schmid P, Conibear J, Ezhil V, Prakash V, Russell P, Light T, Horey T, Danson S, Bury J, Edwards J, Hill J, Matthews S, Kitsanta Y, Suvarna K, Fisher P, Shackcloth M, Gosney J, Feeet al., 2019, Neoantigen-directed immune escape in lung cancer evolution, NATURE, Vol: 567, Pages: 479-+, ISSN: 0028-0836

Journal article

Wong YNS, Joshi K, Khetrapal P, Ismail M, Reading JL, Sunderland MW, Georgiou A, Furness AJS, Ben Aissa A, Ghorani E, Oakes T, Uddin I, Tan WS, Feber A, McGovern U, Swanton C, Freeman A, Marafioti T, Briggs TP, Kelly JD, Powles T, Peggs KS, Chain BM, Linch MD, Quezada SAet al., 2018, Urine-derived lymphocytes as a non-invasive measure of the bladder tumor immune microenvironment., J Exp Med, Vol: 215, Pages: 2748-2759

Despite the advances in cancer immunotherapy, only a fraction of patients with bladder cancer exhibit responses to checkpoint blockade, highlighting a need to better understand drug resistance and identify rational immunotherapy combinations. However, accessibility to the tumor prior and during therapy is a major limitation in understanding the immune tumor microenvironment (TME). Herein, we identified urine-derived lymphocytes (UDLs) as a readily accessible source of T cells in 32 patients with muscle invasive bladder cancer (MIBC). We observed that effector CD8+ and CD4+ cells and regulatory T cells within the urine accurately map the immune checkpoint landscape and T cell receptor repertoire of the TME. Finally, an increased UDL count, specifically high expression of PD-1 (PD-1hi) on CD8+ at the time of cystectomy, was associated with a shorter recurrence-free survival. UDL analysis represents a dynamic liquid biopsy that is representative of the bladder immune TME that may be used to identify actionable immuno-oncology (IO) targets with potential prognostic value in MIBC.

Journal article

Chakravarthy A, Furness A, Joshi K, Ghorani E, Ford K, Ward MJ, King EV, Lechner M, Marafioti T, Quezada SA, Thomas GJ, Feber A, Fenton TRet al., 2018, Author Correction: Pan-cancer deconvolution of tumour composition using DNA methylation., Nat Commun, Vol: 9

The original version of this Article contained an error in Figure 4. In panel a, the colour code for hot and cold clusters was inadvertently inverted. In the correct version of panel a, the hot clusters are blue and the cold clusters are yellow. This error has now been corrected in both the PDF and HTML versions of the Article.

Journal article

Chakravarthy A, Furness A, Joshi K, Ghorani E, Ford K, Ward MJ, King EV, Lechner M, Marafioti T, Quezada SA, Thomas GJ, Feber A, Fenton TRet al., 2018, Pan-cancer deconvolution of tumour composition using DNA methylation., Nat Commun, Vol: 9

The nature and extent of immune cell infiltration into solid tumours are key determinants of therapeutic response. Here, using a DNA methylation-based approach to tumour cell fraction deconvolution, we report the integrated analysis of tumour composition and genomics across a wide spectrum of solid cancers. Initially studying head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, we identify two distinct tumour subgroups: 'immune hot' and 'immune cold', which display differing prognosis, mutation burden, cytokine signalling, cytolytic activity and oncogenic driver events. We demonstrate the existence of such tumour subgroups pan-cancer, link clonal-neoantigen burden to cytotoxic T-lymphocyte infiltration, and show that transcriptional signatures of hot tumours are selectively engaged in immunotherapy responders. We also find that treatment-naive hot tumours are markedly enriched for known immune-resistance genomic alterations, potentially explaining the heterogeneity of immunotherapy response and prognosis seen within this group. Finally, we define a catalogue of mediators of active antitumour immunity, deriving candidate biomarkers and potential targets for precision immunotherapy.

Journal article

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