Tumor immune microenvironment characterization in clear cell renal cell carcinoma identifies prognostic and immunotherapeutically relevant messenger RNA signatures

Tumor-infiltrating immune cells have been linked to prognosis and response to immunotherapy; however, the levels of distinct immune cell subsets and the signals that draw them into a tumor, such as the expression of antigen presenting machinery genes, remain poorly characterized. Here, we employ a gene expression-based computational method to profile the infiltration levels of 24 immune cell populations in 19 cancer types. We compare cancer types using an immune infiltration score and a T cell infiltration score and find that clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is among the highest for both scores. Using immune infiltration profiles as well as transcriptomic and proteomic datasets, we characterize three…

• MS
  Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

  Award: Core Grant P30 CA008748
• GB
  Geoffrey Beene Cancer Research Center
• NI
  National Institutes of Health

  Awards: P01CA23766, RO1CA55349
• NC
  National Cancer Institute

  Award: U24CA143840
• NI
  National Institute of General Medical Sciences

  Awards: T32GM007739, T32CA082088-15