ADAPTIVE NK CELLS IN BREAST CANCER PATIENTS DISPLAY SUPERIOR CYTOKINE RESPONSES AFTER STIMULATION WITH THERAPEUTIC ANTIBODIES AND SHOW INCREASED RESILIENCE TO NEOADJUVANT CHEMOTHERAPY

MARIA BELEN BORDIGNON; AYELÉN IVANA PESCE VIGLIETTI; ESTEFANIA PAULA JULIÁ; MARÍA BELÉN SÁNCHEZ; ALEXANDER RÖLLE; PABLO MANDÓ; LUCIANA SABATINI; ALEXIS OSTINELLI; MANGLIO MIGUEL RIZZO; JOSE MORDOH; LEONARDO FAINBOIM; ESTRELLA MARIEL LEVY

Mar del Plata

Congreso; Reunión Anula de Sociedades de Biociencias; 2022

Adaptive NK (aNK) cells are a subpopulation of CD3-CD56dim cellsthat proliferate after human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection. Thissubpopulation has more robust production of cytokines via CD16stimulation (ADCR), longer lifespan and persistence compared toconventional NK cells (cNK) and is therefore interesting for cancerimmunotherapy. Because there is limited information on aNK cellsin cancer patients, we studied this population in peripheral bloodsamples from 140 Breast cancer (BC) patients using flow cytometryin the context of HER2+ BC-directed therapy. We characterized aNKcells by the lack of FcεRIγ (γ-) protein expression or the presenceof the NKG2C receptor. Phenotypically, we analyzed the expressionof various markers within the γ+ and γ- cell subsets. Functionally,we examined IFN-γ production and CD107a expression in both cellsubsets by CD16 stimulation with anti-HER2 antibodies (abs). Theseroprevalence of HCMV in BC patients was high (86%) and comparable with the age-matched healthy donors (85%). Nearly 60% ofHCMV+ BC patients presented aNK cell subpopulation. Comparedwith γ+, γ- cells had higher levels of CD85j but lower levels of NKp30and CD161 receptors (p