Fig. 1

CD70 expression in CRC and PDAC patients. A Pan-cancer CD70 expression in count per million reads (cpm) obtained from bulk RNA-seq of 28 different cancer types from the PCAWG Firehose cohort from the TCGA database. B, C Linear regression analysis and Spearman’s correlation analysis of CD70 mRNA expression and the general CAF score on CRC (i.e., COAD/READ) and PDAC (i.e., PAAD) databases, respectively. D Multivariate regression analysis with log ratio test to predict CD70 using the general CAF score (blue) and CAF score related to ICB therapy resistance on top of the general CAF score (yellow). E Distribution of percentage CD70⁺ CAFs of the total stromal fibroblasts found in the TME of 23 PDAC patients. F Representative images of H&E, α-SMA, and CD70 staining of a PDAC patient. G Representative images of CD70⁺ CAFs (indicated by red arrows) in the stromal compartment and an area with CD70⁻ CAFs in the stromal compartment with a CD70⁺ TIL as reference. Total magnification is indicated in the lower right corner. Abbreviations: CRC, colorectal cancer; PDAC, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma; CAF, cancer-associated fibroblast; ICB, immune checkpoint blockade; TME, tumor microenvironment; H&E, hematoxylin and eosin; α-SMA, alpha-smooth muscle actin; and TIL, tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte