Bezzi et al. discovered that the type and number of immune cells infiltrating human or murine prostate cancer, and their tumor-inhibitory mechanism, depend on the specific gene pathways that are mutated in the tumor, and on the resulting differential cytokine and chemokine population. The tumor microenvironments ranged from immune deserts to highly infiltrated landscapes, suggesting that stratification of patients based on integrated genotypic-immunophenotypic analysis may be required for the success of immunotherapy in prostate cancer.

Multiple immune-cell types can infiltrate tumors and promote progression and metastasis through different mechanisms, including immunosuppression. How distinct genetic alterations in tumors affect the composition of the immune landscape is currently unclear. Here, we characterized the immune-cell composition of prostate cancers driven by the loss of the critical tumor suppressor gene Pten, either alone or in combination with the loss of Trp53, Zbtb7a or Pml. We observed a striking quantitative and qualitative heterogeneity that was directly dependent on the specific genetic events in the tumor and ranged from 'cold', noninflamed tumors to massively infiltrated landscapes-results with important therapeutic implications. Further, we showed these qualitative differences in transcriptomic analysis of human prostate cancer samples. These data suggest that patient stratification on the basis of integrated genotypic-immunophenotypic analyses may be necessary for successful clinical trials and tailored precision immunological therapies.

Author Info: (1) Cancer Research Institute, Beth Israel Deaconess Cancer Center, Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Author Info: (1) Cancer Research Institute, Beth Israel Deaconess Cancer Center, Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. (2) Cancer Research Institute, Beth Israel Deaconess Cancer Center, Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. (3) Cancer Research Institute, Beth Israel Deaconess Cancer Center, Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. (4) Cancer Research Institute, Beth Israel Deaconess Cancer Center, Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. (5) Cancer Research Institute, Beth Israel Deaconess Cancer Center, Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. (6) Cancer Research Institute, Beth Israel Deaconess Cancer Center, Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. (7) Cancer Research Institute, Beth Israel Deaconess Cancer Center, Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. (8) Cancer Research Institute, Beth Israel Deaconess Cancer Center, Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. (9) Cancer Research Institute, Beth Israel Deaconess Cancer Center, Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. (10) Cancer Research Institute, Beth Israel Deaconess Cancer Center, Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. (11) Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. (12) Cancer Research Institute, Beth Israel Deaconess Cancer Center, Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Preclinical Murine Pharmacogenetics Facility, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. (13) School of Biological Sciences, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China. (14) Cancer Research Institute, Beth Israel Deaconess Cancer Center, Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.