Xiaoqiang Zhu, Xiaowen Huang, Muni Hu, Rongrong Sun, Jiantao Li, Hai Wang, Xuefeng Pan, Yanru Ma, Lijun Ning, Tianying Tong, Yilu Zhou, Jinmei Ding, Ying Zhao, Baoqin Xuan, Jing-Yuan Fang, Jie Hong, Jason Wing Hon Wong, Youwei Zhang, Haoyan Chen
Immunotherapy has revolutionized cancer treatment, but inconsistent responses persist. Our study delves into the intriguing phenomenon of enhanced immunotherapy sensitivity in older individuals with cancers. Through a meta-analysis encompassing 25 small-to-mid-sized trials of immune checkpoint blockade (ICB), we demonstrate that older individuals exhibit heightened responsiveness to ICB therapy. To understand the underlying mechanism, we reanalyze single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data from multiple studies and unveil distinct upregulation of exhausted and cytotoxic T cell markers within the tumor microenvironment (TME) of older patients...
March 18, 2024: Cell Host & Microbe