CD69 and SBK1 as potential predictors of responses to PD-1/PD-L1 blockade cancer immunotherapy in lung cancer and melanoma

BACKGROUND: PD-1/PD-L1 blockade is a promising immunotherapeutic strategy with the potential to improve the outcomes of various cancers. However, there is a critically unmet need for effective biomarkers of response to PD-1/PD-L1 blockade. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Potential biomarkers of response to PD-1/PD-L1 blockade were obtained from the Cancer Treatment Response gene signature Database (CTR-DB). A comprehensive pan-cancer analysis was done on The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) datasets. Correlations between gene expression and infiltration by immune cells were assessed using TIMER, EPIC, MCPcounter, xCell, CIBERSORT, and quanTIseq. Immunophenoscore (IPS) was used to assess the potential application of the biomarkers to all TCGA tumors. RESULTS: Analysis of CTR-DB data identified CD69 and SBK1 as potential biomarkers of response to PD-1/PD-L1 blockade. Correlation analysis revealed that in various TCGA cancer datasets, CD69 expression level correlated positively with most immune checkpoints and tumor-infiltrating immune cells, while SBK1 expression level correlated negatively with infiltrating immune cells. IPS analysis demonstrated the ability of CD69 and SBK1 to predict PD-1/PD-L1 blockade responses in various cancers. CONCLUSION: CD69 and SBK1 are potential predictors of response to cancer immunotherapy using PD-1/PD-L1 blockade. These biomarkers may guide treatment decisions, leading to precise treatment and minimizing the waste of medical resources.