Studies highlight immune biomarkers and infiltration subtypes in osteosarcoma prognosis
Two osteosarcoma studies identified prognostic immune biomarkers, including serum sB7-H3 and an immune cell infiltration score. Both linked immune features with survival, metastasis and treatment response.
Two studies identified prognostic immune biomarkers and immune infiltration patterns in osteosarcoma. One study measured soluble B7-H3 in peripheral blood from 100 newly diagnosed osteosarcoma patients before and after neoadjuvant chemotherapy and assessed B7-H3 tissue expression in surgical specimens, while another study characterized immune cell infiltration using gene expression and clinical data from TARGET and GEO databases and developed a prognostic ICI score via PCA.
In the biomarker study, B7-H3 tissue expression showed significant associations with histopathological response to chemotherapy, with the H-score threshold > 75 identifying patients with particularly poor prognosis (p < 0.05). Although no significant correlation was observed between tissue and circulating B7-H3 expression, lower baseline sB7-H3 levels (pre-sB7H3 < 21.2425 ng/mL) predicted poor clinical outcomes. By integrating sB7-H3 levels with established prognostic indicators, including metastatic status and LDH levels, the study developed a comprehensive prognostic model that demonstrated strong predictive accuracy for survival outcomes.
The same study found that pre-sB7-H3 levels were significantly associated with good histological responses (p < 0.05). Longitudinal monitoring during treatment showed that dynamic changes in sB7-H3 levels positively correlated with disease progression (p < 0.05) and inversely correlated with good histological responses (p < 0.05). The findings highlighted serum sB7-H3 as a clinically valuable biomarker in osteosarcoma, providing prognostic information both at diagnosis and throughout the course of treatment.
In the immune infiltration analysis, three ICI subtypes with distinct prognostic values were identified. Patients with higher ICI scores showed improved survival and were enriched in CD8+ T cells, monocytes, M1 macrophages, M2 macrophages, activated dendritic cells, resting mast cells, and activated mast cells. The ICI score also demonstrated significant predictive value for metastasis and HUVOS grade across clinical cohorts.
Three key genes — WAS, ARHGAP30, and PARVG — were associated with metastasis, Huvos grade, and macrophage-specific expression and served as potential prognostic biomarkers. The study stated that the ICI score and key genes offer insights into tumor heterogeneity and potential therapeutic targets, particularly in modulating macrophage polarization and enhancing antitumor immunity, while noting retrospective data and lack of functional validation as limitations.