CD8A

Overview

CD8A encodes the alpha chain of the CD8 co-receptor that defines cytotoxic T lymphocytes and is a canonical marker of adaptive anti-tumor immune infiltration.

Alterations observed in the corpus

  • Included in the 20-gene Immunologic Constant of Rejection (ICR) signature as a Th1/CD8 effector component, applied to the 348-patient AC-ICAM colon cancer cohort PMID:37202560.
  • Peripheral blood CD8+ T-cell compartment measured by flow cytometry in 51 recurrent/second-primary HNSCC patients treated with IMRT reirradiation + nivolumab; no correlation with PFS observed, in contrast to the CD4+PD-1+Ki-67+ proliferative surge which trended with worse outcome PMID:38780927.
  • CD8+ T cells detected as infiltrating immune populations in HGSOC precursor lesions across the progression spectrum (p53 signatures, STICs, cancer) by GeoMx spatial profiling of 44 fallopian tube specimens; exhaustion markers (PD-1, LAG3, TIM3) progressively upregulated on CD8+ T cells from STIC.I onward PMID:39386723.
  • CD8A (CD8 alpha chain) was not significantly differentially expressed between anti-PD-1 responders and non-responders in whole-tumor transcriptome analysis of melanoma; this negative finding contrasts with nanostring panel results from other studies and may reflect dilution of immune-cell-specific signals in bulk RNA-seq PMID:26997480.

Cancer types (linked)

  • Colon adenocarcinoma — CD8A contributes to ICR-based stratification; NK and T cell subset abundances by ConsensusTME were highest in ICR-high tumors across all CMS subtypes PMID:37202560.
  • HNSC — CD8+ T cells measured in peripheral blood of HNSCC patients; CD8A expression was not associated with PFS benefit from IMRT reirradiation + nivolumab PMID:38780927.

Co-occurrence and mutual exclusivity

Therapeutic relevance

  • No direct CD8A-targeted therapy is evaluated; CD8A expression contributes to the prognostic ICR score PMID:37202560.

Open questions

  • Independent contribution of CD8A vs the full ICR module is not dissected PMID:37202560.

Sources

This page was processed by crosslinker on 2026-05-04. - PMID:26997480

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