Quantification of Immune Variables from Liquid Biopsy in Breast Cancer Patients Links Vδ2(+) γδ T Cell Alterations with Lymph Node Invasion

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Vδ2(+) γδ T cells have potent antitumor properties both in vitro and in murine preclinical models of breast cancers. However, in the context of human breast cancer, there is a lack of information for potential phenotypic alterations of this crucial immune cell subset. This is partly due to Vδ2(+) γδ T cells scarcity in surgical specimens. To break this deadlock, we assessed Vδ2(+) γδ T cell phenotypes using untreated breast cancer patients’ peripheral blood, so-called minimally invasive “liquid biopsy”. We show that circulating Vδ2(+) γδ T cell phenotypic alterations are already established at diagnosis and related to tumor progression. Notably, terminally differentiated Vδ2(+) γδ T cells expressing canonical markers of replicative senescence and exhaustion were significantly associated with tumor-draining lymph node invasion. Our results shed light on the interest of using liquid biopsy to monitor rare events and support Vδ2(+) γδ T cell involvement in breast cancer pathogenesis and progression. ABSTRACT: The rationale for therapeutic targeting of Vδ2(+) γδ T cells in breast cancer is strongly supported by in vitro and murine preclinical investigations, characterizing them as potent breast tumor cell killers and source of Th1-related cytokines, backing cytotoxic αβ T cells. Nonetheless, insights regarding Vδ2(+) γδ T cell phenotypic alterations in human breast cancers are still lacking. This paucity of information is partly due to the challenging scarcity of these cells in surgical specimens. αβ T cell phenotypic alterations occurring in the tumor bed are detectable in the periphery and correlate with adverse clinical outcomes. Thus, we sought to determine through an exploratory study whether Vδ2(+) γδ T cells phenotypic changes can be detected within breast cancer patients’ peripheral blood, along with association with tumor progression. By using mass cytometry, we quantified 130 immune variables from untreated breast cancer patients’ peripheral blood. Supervised analyses and dimensionality reduction algorithms evidenced circulating Vδ2(+) γδ T cell phenotypic alterations already established at diagnosis. Foremost, terminally differentiated Vδ2(+) γδ T cells displaying phenotypes of exhausted senescent T cells associated with lymph node involvement. Thereby, our results support Vδ2(+) γδ T cells implication in breast cancer pathogenesis and progression, besides shedding light on liquid biopsies to monitor surrogate markers of tumor-infiltrating Vδ2(+) γδ T cell antitumor activity.