TIGIT expression on neoplastic cells is a poor prognostic factor for adult T-cell leukaemia/lymphoma

Yuichi Yamada; Hiroaki Miyoshi; Mai Takeuchi; Kazutaka Nakashima; Kyohei Yamada; Takeharu Kato; Ken Tanaka; Kei Kohno; Yoshitaka Imaizumi; Yasushi Miyazaki; Koichi Ohshima

doi:10.1016/j.pathol.2024.06.003

TIGIT expression on neoplastic cells is a poor prognostic factor for adult T-cell leukaemia/lymphoma

Pathology. 2024 Aug 12:S0031-3025(24)00187-9. doi: 10.1016/j.pathol.2024.06.003. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pathology, Kurume University School of Medicine, Kurume, Japan; Department of Hematology, Atomic Bomb Disease and Hibakusha Medicine Unit, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki, Japan; Department of Hematology, Nagasaki University Hospital, Nagasaki, Japan.
² Department of Pathology, Kurume University School of Medicine, Kurume, Japan. Electronic address: miyoshi_hiroaki@med.kurume-u.ac.jp.
³ Department of Pathology, Kurume University School of Medicine, Kurume, Japan.
⁴ Department of Hematology, Nagasaki University Hospital, Nagasaki, Japan.
⁵ Department of Hematology/Oncology, Wakayama Medical University, Wakayama, Japan.
⁶ Department of Hematology, National Hospital Organization Nagasaki Medical Center, Omura, Japan.
⁷ Department of Hematology, Atomic Bomb Disease and Hibakusha Medicine Unit, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki, Japan; Department of Hematology, Nagasaki University Hospital, Nagasaki, Japan; Department of Hematology, Atomic Bomb Disease and Hibakusha Medicine Unit, Atomic Bomb Disease Institute, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan.

PMID: 39266421
DOI: 10.1016/j.pathol.2024.06.003

Abstract

Adult T-cell leukaemia/lymphoma (ATLL) is an aggressive peripheral T-cell neoplasm with a poor prognosis. T-cell immunoreceptor with immunoglobulin and immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibitory motif domains (TIGIT) is an immune checkpoint receptor expressed on T and natural killer cells. Although increased TIGIT expression in the tumour microenvironment is associated with poor prognosis in various neoplasms, its relevance in ATLL remains unknown. Herein, we investigated the clinicopathological impact of TIGIT expression on ATLL using immunohistochemistry. TIGIT expression was detected in 21 of 84 patients (25%). A partial association between the clinical features and immune checkpoint molecules and the expression of TIGIT was found including sIL-2R, CD86 and GITR. TIGIT-positive patients [median survival time (MST) 8.9 months, 95% confidence interval (CI) 7.7-15.6] had inferior overall survival compared with TIGIT-negative patients (MST 18.7 months, 95% CI 12.0-36.4) (p=0.0124]. TIGIT expression maintained its prognostic value for overall survival in both univariate and multivariate analyses [hazard ratio (HR) 1.909; 95% CI 1.044-3.488; p=0.0356]. Further studies are required to clarify the clinical and biological significance of TIGIT expression in patients with ATLL.

Keywords: TIGIT; adult T-cell leukaemia/lymphoma; immunohistochemistry; prognosis.