scholarly journals Metabolomic adaptations and correlates of survival to immune checkpoint blockade

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Haoxin Li ◽  
Kevin Bullock ◽  
Carino Gurjao ◽  
David Braun ◽  
Sachet A. Shukla ◽  
...  

Abstract Despite remarkable success of immune checkpoint inhibitors, the majority of cancer patients have yet to receive durable benefits. Here, in order to investigate the metabolic alterations in response to immune checkpoint blockade, we comprehensively profile serum metabolites in advanced melanoma and renal cell carcinoma patients treated with nivolumab, an antibody against programmed cell death protein 1 (PD1). We identify serum kynurenine/tryptophan ratio increases as an adaptive resistance mechanism associated with worse overall survival. This advocates for patient stratification and metabolic monitoring in immunotherapy clinical trials including those combining PD1 blockade with indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase/tryptophan 2,3-dioxygenase   (IDO/TDO) inhibitors.

Author(s):  
Allan Relecom ◽  
Maysaloun Merhi ◽  
Varghese Inchakalody ◽  
Shahab Uddin ◽  
Darawan Rinchai ◽  
...  

AbstractImmune checkpoint inhibitors provide considerable therapeutic benefit in a range of solid cancers as well as in a subgroup of hematological malignancies. Response rates are however suboptimal, and despite considerable efforts, predicting response to immune checkpoint inhibitors ahead of their administration in a given patient remains elusive. The study of the dynamics of the immune system and of the tumor under immune checkpoint blockade brought insight into the mechanisms of action of these therapeutic agents. Equally relevant are the mechanisms of adaptive resistance to immune checkpoint inhibitors that have been uncovered through this approach. In this review, we discuss the dynamics of the immune system and of the tumor under immune checkpoint blockade emanating from recent studies on animal models and humans. We will focus on mechanisms of action and of resistance conveying information predictive of therapeutic response.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Na Zhang ◽  
Li Wei ◽  
Meng Ye ◽  
Chunsheng Kang ◽  
Hua You

Glioblastoma (GBM) is a highly malignant and aggressive primary brain tumor mostly prevalent in adults and is associated with a very poor prognosis. Moreover, only a few effective treatment regimens are available due to their rapid invasion of the brain parenchyma and resistance to conventional therapy. However, the fast development of cancer immunotherapy and the remarkable survival benefit from immunotherapy in several extracranial tumor types have recently paved the way for numerous interventional studies involving GBM patients. The recent success of checkpoint blockade therapy, targeting immunoinhibitory proteins such as programmed cell death protein-1 and/or cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen-4, has initiated a paradigm shift in clinical and preclinical investigations, and the use of immunotherapy for solid tumors, which would be a potential breakthrough in the field of drug therapy for the GBM treatment. However clinical trial showed limited benefits for GBM patients. The main reason is drug resistance. This review summarizes the clinical research progress of immune checkpoint molecules and inhibitors, introduces the current research status of immune checkpoint inhibitors in the field of GBM, analyzes the molecular resistance mechanism of checkpoint blockade therapy, proposes corresponding re-sensitive strategies, and describes a reference for the design and development of subsequent clinical studies on immunotherapy for GBM.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (436) ◽  
pp. eaan3311 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalie J. Neubert ◽  
Martina Schmittnaegel ◽  
Natacha Bordry ◽  
Sina Nassiri ◽  
Noémie Wald ◽  
...  

Colony-stimulating factor 1 (CSF1) is a key regulator of monocyte/macrophage differentiation that sustains the protumorigenic functions of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs). We show that CSF1 is expressed in human melanoma, and patients with metastatic melanoma have increased CSF1 in blood compared to healthy subjects. In tumors, CSF1 expression correlated with the abundance of CD8+T cells and CD163+TAMs. Human melanoma cell lines consistently produced CSF1 after exposure to melanoma-specific CD8+T cells or T cell–derived cytokines in vitro, reflecting a broadly conserved mechanism of CSF1 induction by activated CD8+T cells. Mining of publicly available transcriptomic data sets suggested co-enrichment of CD8+T cells with CSF1 or various TAM-specific markers in human melanoma, which was associated with nonresponsiveness to programmed cell death protein 1 (PD1) checkpoint blockade in a smaller patient cohort. Combination of anti-PD1 and anti–CSF1 receptor (CSF1R) antibodies induced the regression ofBRAFV600E-driven, transplant mouse melanomas, a result that was dependent on the effective elimination of TAMs. Collectively, these data implicate CSF1 induction as a CD8+T cell–dependent adaptive resistance mechanism and show that simultaneous CSF1R targeting may be beneficial in melanomas refractory to immune checkpoint blockade and, possibly, other T cell–based therapies.


2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefanie Tietze ◽  
Susanne Michen ◽  
Gabriele Schackert ◽  
Achim Temme

Abstract Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most prevalent primary brain tumor endowed with a dismal prognosis. Nowadays, immunotherapy in a particular immune checkpoint blockade and therapeutic vaccines are being extensively pursued. Yet, several characteristics of GBM may impact such immunotherapeutic approaches. This includes tumor heterogeneity, the relatively low mutational load of primary GBM, insufficient delivery of antibodies to tumor parenchyma and the unique immunosuppressive microenvironment of GBM. Moreover, standard treatment of GBM, comprising temozolomide chemotherapy, radiotherapy and in most instances the application of glucocorticoids for management of brain edema, results in a further increased immunosuppression. This review will provide a brief introduction to the principles of vaccine-based immunotherapy and give an overview of the current clinical studies, which employed immune checkpoint inhibitors, oncolytic viruses-based vaccination, cell-based and peptide-based vaccines. Recent experiences as well as the latest developments are reviewed. Overcoming obstacles, which limit the induction and long-term immune response against GBM when using vaccination approaches, are necessary for the implementation of effective immunotherapy of GBM.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. e001460 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiuting Liu ◽  
Graham D Hogg ◽  
David G DeNardo

The clinical success of immune checkpoint inhibitors has highlighted the central role of the immune system in cancer control. Immune checkpoint inhibitors can reinvigorate anti-cancer immunity and are now the standard of care in a number of malignancies. However, research on immune checkpoint blockade has largely been framed with the central dogma that checkpoint therapies intrinsically target the T cell, triggering the tumoricidal potential of the adaptive immune system. Although T cells undoubtedly remain a critical piece of the story, mounting evidence, reviewed herein, indicates that much of the efficacy of checkpoint therapies may be attributable to the innate immune system. Emerging research suggests that T cell-directed checkpoint antibodies such as anti-programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1) or programmed death-ligand-1 (PD-L1) can impact innate immunity by both direct and indirect pathways, which may ultimately shape clinical efficacy. However, the mechanisms and impacts of these activities have yet to be fully elucidated, and checkpoint therapies have potentially beneficial and detrimental effects on innate antitumor immunity. Further research into the role of innate subsets during checkpoint blockade may be critical for developing combination therapies to help overcome checkpoint resistance. The potential of checkpoint therapies to amplify innate antitumor immunity represents a promising new field that can be translated into innovative immunotherapies for patients fighting refractory malignancies.


Cancers ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 1689 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edoardo Giannini ◽  
Andrea Aglitti ◽  
Mauro Borzio ◽  
Martina Gambato ◽  
Maria Guarino ◽  
...  

Despite progress in our understanding of the biology of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), this tumour remains difficult-to-cure for several reasons, starting from the particular disease environment where it arises—advanced chronic liver disease—to its heterogeneous clinical and biological behaviour. The advent, and good results, of immunotherapy for cancer called for the evaluation of its potential application also in HCC, where there is evidence of intra-hepatic immune response activation. Several studies advanced our knowledge of immune checkpoints expression in HCC, thus suggesting that immune checkpoint blockade may have a strong rationale even in the treatment of HCC. According to this background, initial studies with tremelimumab, a cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (CTLA-4) inhibitor, and nivolumab, a programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) antibody, showed promising results, and further studies exploring the effects of other immune checkpoint inhibitors, alone or with other drugs, are currently underway. However, we are still far from the identification of the correct setting, and sequence, where these drugs might be used in clinical practice, and their actual applicability in real-life is unknown. This review focuses on HCC immunobiology and on the potential of immune checkpoint blockade therapy for this tumour, with a critical evaluation of the available trials on immune checkpoint blocking antibodies treatment for HCC. Moreover, it assesses the potential applicability of immune checkpoint inhibitors in the real-life setting, by analysing a large, multicentre cohort of Italian patients with HCC.


2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (5_suppl) ◽  
pp. 84-84
Author(s):  
Kushal Naha ◽  
Lakshmi Manogna Chintalacheruvu ◽  
Donald C. Doll ◽  
Sowjanya Naha

84 Background: Immune checkpoint blockade is known to be associated with various dermatologic adverse events. However, these adverse effects have not been studied in a systematic manner. This is especially relevant considering the rapidly increasing number of immune checkpoint inhibitors that are now available. Methods: We searched for eligible studies in PubMed and Google scholar. We reviewed randomized controlled trials involving cancer patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors - PD1 inhibitors, PDL1 inhibitors and CTLA4 inhibitors and for dermatologic adverse effects. A total of 47 randomized controlled trials involving 11875 patients met eligibility criteria for our study. Results: Incidence rate of all grade dermatologic adverse effects was 40.6% (95% confidence interval [CI], 39.4-41.7%). Most common adverse effects included pruritus (17.3%) (95% confidence interval [CI] 16.6-18.1%), undifferentiated rash (15.1%) (95% confidence interval [CI] 14.4-15.9%), vitiligo (3.6%) (95% confidence interval [CI] 3.2-3.9%), maculopapular rash (2.3%) (95% confidence interval [CI] 2.1-2.6%), stomatitis (0.7%) (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.55-0.92%) and dry skin (0.7%) (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.5-0.8%). Less common adverse events include palmoplantar erythrodysesthesia, pemphigoid skin reactions, lichen planus and hyperhidrosis. Grade 3 and higher adverse effects were seen in 1.3% of patients (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.1-1.6%). Conclusions: A wide range of dermatologic adverse effects can be seen with immune checkpoint blockade. While the majority of these events are of grade 1-2, they can occasionally be severe and even life threatening. Patients receiving immune checkpoint blockade should be closely monitored for dermatologic adverse effects.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (15) ◽  
pp. 5456 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayumi Kuzume ◽  
SungGi Chi ◽  
Nobuhiko Yamauchi ◽  
Yosuke Minami

Tumor cells use immune-checkpoint pathways to evade the host immune system and suppress immune cell function. These cells express programmed cell-death protein 1 ligand 1 (PD-L1)/PD-L2, which bind to the programmed cell-death protein 1 (PD-1) present on cytotoxic T cells, trigger inhibitory signaling, and reduce cytotoxicity and T-cell exhaustion. Immune-checkpoint blockade can inhibit this signal and may serve as an effective therapeutic strategy in patients with solid tumors. Several trials have been conducted on immune-checkpoint inhibitor therapy in patients with malignant lymphoma and their efficacy has been reported. For example, in Hodgkin lymphoma, immune-checkpoint blockade has resulted in response rates of 65% to 75%. However, in non-Hodgkin lymphoma, the response rate to immune-checkpoint blockade was lower. In this review, we evaluate the biology of immune-checkpoint inhibition and the current data on its efficacy in malignant lymphoma, and identify the cases in which the treatment was more effective.


2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e14078-e14078
Author(s):  
Qun Zhang ◽  
Lei Cheng ◽  
Jing Hu ◽  
Li Li ◽  
Mi Yang ◽  
...  

e14078 Background: Immune checkpoint inhibitors have brought great breakthroughs in cancer therapy. Activated immune response is known to be the prerequisite for exerting immunotherapy efficacy. Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection is associated with longer survival in gastric cancer (GC) patients due to enhanced anti-tumor immune response, and therefore it was reportedly played an important role in modulating immune checkpoint blockade therapy efficacy. However, molecular dimensions underlying the good response to immune checkpoint inhibitors in presence of EBV infection are still unclear. The aim of this study is to identify a gene signature related to EBV induced anti-tumor immune response, and select a tag gene from this signature to predict which patients are most likely to benefit from immune checkpoint blockade therapy. Methods: Two large transcriptome datasets from Gene Expression Omnibus(GEO) database (GSE51575 and GSE62254) were used to screen gene signature for EBV infected gastric cancer tissues. We further selected genes that showed a trend towards differential co-expression independent of EBV infection status. The tag gene of this differential co-expression signature was finally identified by bioinformatics analysis. To make an external validation, we performed RNA sequencing in 20 colorectal caner (CRC) tissues and 20 GC tissues, respectively. Meanwhile, tissue microarrays of CRC cohort (36 paired tumor and normal tissues) and GC cohort (75 paired tumor and normal tissues) were used to analyze the association of SLAMF8 with CD8 protein expression by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Results: Analysis of GEO datasets indicated 788 genes as feature gene cluster for EBV-positive gastric cancer, from which 290 genes were selected to be characterized by differential co-expression in either EBV-positive or EBV-negative gastric cancers. SLAMF8 was identified as the tag gene for this differential co-expression signature. This signature, tagged by SLAMF8, was successfully validated by our RNA sequencing data in presence of its good performance in dividing CRC and GC patients into two subsets. Moreover, we observed a significant association between SLAMF8 and CD8 expression in our CRC and GC tissue samples, in terms of either mRNA or protein level. Conclusions: SLAMF8, a potential indicator for T cell‐mediated immune response induced by EBV infection, may be served as a biomarker for individualized immune checkpoint blockade therapy in gastrointestinal cancer. Further SLAMF8 guided drug sensitivity tests are warranted to validate our results.


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