Spatiotemporal analysis of tumour-infiltrating immune cells in biliary carcinogenesis

BACKGROUND: Intraductal papillary neoplasms (IPN) and biliary epithelial neoplasia (BilIN) are well‐defined precursor lesions of biliary tract carcinoma (BTC). The aim of this study was to provide a comprehensive characterisation of the inflammatory microenvironment in BTC precursor lesions. METHODS: Immunohistochemistry was employed to assess tumour-infiltrating immune cells in tissue samples from patients, for whom precursor lesions were identified alongside invasive BTC. The spatiotemporal evolution of the immune microenvironment during IPN-associated carcinogenesis was comprehensively analysed using triplet sample sets of non-neoplastic epithelium, precursor lesion and invasive BTC. Immune-cell dynamics during IPN- and BilIN-associated carcinogenesis were subsequently compared. RESULTS: Stromal CD3(+) (P = 0.002), CD4(+) (P = 0.007) and CD8(+) (P < 0.001) T cells, CD20(+) B cells (P = 0.008), MUM1(+) plasma cells (P = 0.012) and CD163(+) M2-like macrophages (P = 0.008) significantly decreased in IPN compared to non-tumorous biliary epithelium. Upon transition from IPN to invasive BTC, stromal CD68(+) (P = 0.001) and CD163(+) (P < 0.001) macrophages significantly increased. In contrast, BilIN-driven carcinogenesis was characterised by significant reduction of intraepithelial CD8(+) T-lymphocytic infiltration from non-tumorous epithelium via BilIN (P = 0.008) to BTC (P = 0.004). CONCLUSION: IPN and BilIN are immunologically distinct entities that undergo different immune-cell variations during biliary carcinogenesis. Intraepithelial CD8(+) T-lymphocytic infiltration of biliary tissue decreased already at the IPN-precursor stage, whereas BilIN-associated carcinogenesis showed a slowly progressing reduction towards invasive carcinoma.