Abstract 1099: Sorafenib increases numbers and functions of tumor-infiltrated T cells and enhances therapeutic outcomes of adoptive T cell therapy by modifying tumor microenvironment

Author(s):  
Jeng-Jong Hwang ◽  
Hui-Yen Chuang ◽  
Ya-Fang Chang
Leukemia ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed-Reda Benmebarek ◽  
Bruno L. Cadilha ◽  
Monika Herrmann ◽  
Stefanie Lesch ◽  
Saskia Schmitt ◽  
...  

AbstractTargeted T cell therapy is highly effective in disease settings where tumor antigens are uniformly expressed on malignant cells and where off-tumor on-target-associated toxicity is manageable. Although acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has in principle been shown to be a T cell-sensitive disease by the graft-versus-leukemia activity of allogeneic stem cell transplantation, T cell therapy has so far failed in this setting. This is largely due to the lack of target structures both sufficiently selective and uniformly expressed on AML, causing unacceptable myeloid cell toxicity. To address this, we developed a modular and controllable MHC-unrestricted adoptive T cell therapy platform tailored to AML. This platform combines synthetic agonistic receptor (SAR) -transduced T cells with AML-targeting tandem single chain variable fragment (scFv) constructs. Construct exchange allows SAR T cells to be redirected toward alternative targets, a process enabled by the short half-life and controllability of these antibody fragments. Combining SAR-transduced T cells with the scFv constructs resulted in selective killing of CD33+ and CD123+ AML cell lines, as well as of patient-derived AML blasts. Durable responses and persistence of SAR-transduced T cells could also be demonstrated in AML xenograft models. Together these results warrant further translation of this novel platform for AML treatment.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristin G. Anderson ◽  
Shannon K. Oda ◽  
Breanna M. Bates ◽  
Madison G. Burnett ◽  
Magdalia Rodgers Suarez ◽  
...  

Background: In the U.S., more than 50% of ovarian cancer patients die within 5 years of diagnosis, highlighting the need for innovations such as engineered T cell therapies. Mesothelin (Msln) is an attractive immunotherapy target for this cancer, as it is overexpressed by the tumor and contributes to malignant and invasive phenotypes, making antigen loss disadvantageous to the tumor. We previously showed that adoptively transferred T cells engineered to be Msln-specific (TCR1045) preferentially accumulate within established ovarian tumors, delay tumor growth and significantly prolong survival in the ID8VEGF mouse model. However, T cell persistence and anti-tumor activity were not sustained, and we and others have previously detected FasL in the tumor vasculature and the tumor microenvironment (TME) of human and murine ovarian cancers, which can induce apoptosis in infiltrating lymphocytes expressing Fas receptor (Fas). Methods: To concurrently overcome this mechanism for potential immune evasion and enhance T cell responses, we generated an immunomodulatory fusion protein (IFP) containing the Fas extracellular binding domain fused to a 4-1BB co-stimulatory domain, rather than the natural death domain. T cells engineered to express TCR1045 alone or in combination with the IFP were transferred into ID8VEGF-tumor bearing mice and evaluated for persistence, proliferation, anti-tumor cytokine production, and therapeutic efficacy. Results: Relative to T cells modified only to express TCR1045, T cells engineered to express both TCR1045 and a Fas IFP preferentially persisted in the TME of tumor-bearing mice due to improved T cell proliferation and survival. Moreover, adoptive immunotherapy with IFP+ T cells significantly prolonged survival in tumor-bearing mice, relative to TCR1045 T cells lacking the IFP. Conclusions: Fas/FasL signaling can mediate T cell death in the ovarian cancer microenvironment, as well as induce activation-induced cell death, an apoptotic mechanism responsible for regulating T cell expansion. Upregulation of FasL by tumor cells and tumor vasculature represents a mechanism for protecting growing tumors from attack by tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes. As many solid tumors overexpress FasL, an IFP that converts the Fas-mediated death signal into pro-survival and proliferative signals may provide an opportunity to enhance engineered adoptive T cell therapy against many malignancies.


Author(s):  
Patrick A. Ott ◽  
Gianpietro Dotti ◽  
Cassian Yee ◽  
Stephanie L. Goff

Adoptive T-cell therapy using tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) has demonstrated long-lasting antitumor activity in select patients with advanced melanoma. Cancer vaccines have been used for many decades and have shown some promise but overall relatively modest clinical activity across cancers. Technological advances in genome sequencing capabilities and T-cell engineering have had substantial impact on both adoptive cell therapy and the cancer vaccine field. The ability to identify neoantigens—a class of tumor antigens that is truly tumor specific and encoded by tumor mutations through rapid and relatively inexpensive next-generation sequencing—has already demonstrated the critical importance of these antigens as targets of antitumor-specific T-cell responses in the context of immune checkpoint blockade and other immunotherapies. Therapeutically targeting these antigens with either adoptive T-cell therapy or vaccine approaches has demonstrated early promise in the clinic in patients with advanced solid tumors. Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells, which are engineered by fusing an antigen-specific, single-chain antibody (scFv) with signaling molecules of the T-cell receptor (TCR)/CD3 complex creating an antibody-like structure on T cells that recognizes antigens independently of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules, have demonstrated remarkable clinical activity in patients with advanced B-cell malignancies, leading to several approvals by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).


Blood ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 122 (21) ◽  
pp. SCI-39-SCI-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stanley Riddell ◽  
Cameron Turtle ◽  
Michael Hudecek ◽  
Daniel Sommermeyer ◽  
Michael C. Jensen

Abstract Adoptive T-cell therapy with tumor-reactive T cells is emerging as a highly effective strategy for eliminating even the most advanced chemotherapy refractory malignancies. Endogenous T cells specific for tumor-associated antigens can sometimes be isolated and expanded from the patient’s blood or tumor infiltrate, or more expeditiously can be engineered by gene transfer to express a T-cell receptor specific for a tumor associated MHC/peptide complex or a synthetic chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) specific for a tumor associated cell surface molecule. The remarkable regression of advanced acute lymphocytic leukemia and lymphoma in patients treated with T cells engineered to express CD19-specific CARs illustrates the potential for this approach to transform clinical care. Therapeutic activity is variable in individual patients, however, and this appears to correlate with the ability of transferred, tumor-reactive T cells to persist and proliferate in vivo, and to retain effector function. These attributes may reflect both the qualities of the T cells that are isolated or engineered for therapy, and the local tumor microenvironment that may contain regulatory T cells; cells that express ligands that engage inhibitor receptors on effector T cells or cytokines that inhibit effector T-cell proliferation. The CD4+ and CD8+ T cell pools in normal individuals contain a variety of naïve, memory, and regulatory T-cell subsets that differ in epigenetic, transcriptional, and functional properties. Because most clinical protocols have used polyclonal peripheral blood mononuclear cells as recipients for CAR gene transfer, the composition of T-cell products that are being administered is highly variable, particularly when the T cells are obtained from cancer patients that have received prior cytotoxic chemotherapy that can skew the phenotypic composition of the peripheral T-cell pool. As a consequence, transferring tumor-targeting receptors into polyclonal unselected cell populations provides poor control over the cellular composition of the final T-cell product, which may in part explain the marked differences in efficacy and toxicity that have been observed in the clinic, and may complicate regulatory approval of these novel therapies. Methods to derive T cells from distinct naïve and memory T-cell subsets have been developed, enabling the rapid production of therapeutic T cells of uniform composition. The results of preclinical studies that illustrate the improved potency of defined T-cell products that are engineered with tumor-specific CARs, and the clinical implementation of this approach in B-cell malignancies will be presented. Disclosures: Riddell: Cell Medica: Consultancy, Membership on an entity’s Board of Directors or advisory committees; ZetaRx: Consultancy.


2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. TPS3151-TPS3151
Author(s):  
Bartosz Chmielowski ◽  
Samuel Ejadi ◽  
Roel Funke ◽  
Todd Stallings-Schmitt ◽  
Mitch Denker ◽  
...  

TPS3151 Background: Neoepitopes (neoE) derived from private tumor-exclusive mutations represent compelling targets for personalized TCR-T cell therapy. An ultra-sensitive and high-throughput process was developed to capture tumor mutation-targeted CD8 T cells from patient blood. NeoTCRs cloned from the captured CD8 T cells, when engineered into fresh CD8 and CD4 T cells, effected killing of patients’ autologous tumor cells in vitro. These observations have been leveraged for the development of a fully personalized adoptive T cell therapy (NeoTCR-P1). A Phase 1 clinical trial testing NeoTCR-P1 in subjects with solid tumors is ongoing (NCT03970382). Methods: During the initial trial phase, escalating doses of NeoTCR-P1 T cells administered without and with IL-2 in the regimen, and following conditioning chemotherapy, will be evaluated in subjects with advanced or metastatic solid tumors (melanoma, urothelial cancer, colorectal cancer, ovarian cancer, HR+ breast cancer, and prostate cancer). The objective of the Phase 1a study is to establish a recommended Phase 2 dose. Primary endpoints include the incidence and nature of DLTs and overall process feasibility. The proliferation, persistence, and trafficking of NeoTCR-T cells will be characterized. In the expansion trial phase, preliminary anti-tumor activity of NeoTCR-P1 will be assessed in selected tumors. The combination of NeoTCR-P1 dosing plus nivolumab will be tested in a Phase 1b study. Conclusion: This is the first clinical study of an autologous, fully personalized adoptive T cell therapy directed against private tumor-exclusive mutations, generated without using recombinant viral vectors. Clinical trial information: NCT03970382 .


Leukemia ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 20 (11) ◽  
pp. 2015-2024 ◽  
Author(s):  
G D'Amico ◽  
M Bonamino ◽  
E Dander ◽  
V Marin ◽  
G Basso ◽  
...  

Blood ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 121 (4) ◽  
pp. 573-584 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicoletta Cieri ◽  
Barbara Camisa ◽  
Fabienne Cocchiarella ◽  
Mattia Forcato ◽  
Giacomo Oliveira ◽  
...  

Abstract Long-living memory stem T cells (TSCM) with the ability to self-renew and the plasticity to differentiate into potent effectors could be valuable weapons in adoptive T-cell therapy against cancer. Nonetheless, procedures to specifically target this T-cell population remain elusive. Here, we show that it is possible to differentiate in vitro, expand, and gene modify in clinically compliant conditions CD8+ TSCM lymphocytes starting from naive precursors. Requirements for the generation of this T-cell subset, described as CD62L+CCR7+CD45RA+CD45R0+IL-7Rα+CD95+, are CD3/CD28 engagement and culture with IL-7 and IL-15. Accordingly, TSCM accumulates early after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. The gene expression signature and functional phenotype define this population as a distinct memory T-lymphocyte subset, intermediate between naive and central memory cells. When transplanted in immunodeficient mice, gene-modified naive-derived TSCM prove superior to other memory lymphocytes for the ability to expand and differentiate into effectors able to mediate a potent xenogeneic GVHD. Furthermore, gene-modified TSCM are the only T-cell subset able to expand and mediate GVHD on serial transplantation, suggesting self-renewal capacity in a clinically relevant setting. These findings provide novel insights into the origin and requirements for TSCM generation and pave the way for their clinical rapid exploitation in adoptive cell therapy.


Blood ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 136 (Supplement 1) ◽  
pp. 14-16
Author(s):  
Hassaan Imtiaz ◽  
Muhammad Saad Farooqi ◽  
Unaiza Faizan ◽  
Saad Ur Rehman ◽  
Muhammed Hamza Arshad ◽  
...  

Introduction Allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (Allo-HSCT) used for the treatment of multiple hematological malignancies requires immunosuppression, that can lead to the reactivation of viruses like EBV, CMV, adenovirus (AdV). These viruses pose a life-threatening risk to an individual like Graft vs Host Disease (GVHD) and other virus-specific complications. Adoptive T cell therapy (ATC) is an approach to treat refractory post-Allo-HSCT transplant viral infections. The aim of this study is to assess the efficacy of various ATCs being developed against various viruses. Methods A systematic search on PubMed, Embase, Clinicaltrials.gov, and Web of Science was performed for adoptive immunotherapy in viral infections after stem cell transplantation from inception to May 28, 2020. Out of 604 studies, 13 phase I and II clinical trials were selected for the systematic review. Results A total of 13 studies were included of which two studies included data on the pediatric population (n=13). A total of 335 patients (pts) were enrolled in 13 studies of which 264 were evaluable. CMV Perruccio et al. (2005) in a randomized controlled trial (RCT) assessed the efficacy of ATC against both Aspergillus and CMV after alloSCT. Median follow up (f/u) was six months. For Aspergillus (n=23), 90% and 54% achieved clearance, while for CMV (n=68) 92% and 9% didn't develop CMV reactivation in treatment and control group respectively. Overall Survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) rate at two years were 92% and 80% respectively. Smith et al. (2018) (n=21) in a phase I trial studied the transfusion of virus-specific T cells (VST) (n=13) against CMV infection after undergoing alloSCT. After a median f/u of 28 weeks, overall response rate (ORR) was 85%. Bao et al. (2012) (n=10) conducted a study with VST transfusion against CMV infection (n=7). ORR was 85% of which 3 pts who were on immunosuppressive had shown reactivation. Miej et al. (2012) in phase I/II study (n=6) assessed the response of VST against refractory CMV with CR of 100% Neuenhahn et al. (2017) studied a phase I/II prospective trial (n=17) (CMV Seropositive graft donor (D+) 9/17 and CMV Seronegative graft donor (D-) 8/17) with CR of 62% in D+ group. In D- group only 37% developed T cells after Third-Party Donor transfer and only these achieved CR, while pts with no T cell detection in D- group (63%), only one achieved CR. Micklethwaite et al. (2008) did a phase I clinical trial (n=12) of CMV specific T cells given prophylactically. Only four pts showed CMV reactivation. Adenovirus Feucht et al. (2019) performed a phase I/II clinical trial (n=30) of VST against refractory AdV infection. 47% showed CR, 13% with negative blood AdV cleared virus from other sites, 10% showed PR. OS at six months was 71%. Winnie et al. (2018) (n=8) conducted phase I/II RCT among pediatric pts. Median f/u was six months. All patients have shown a decrease in AdV viral load. Qasim et al. (2013) conducted a prospective trial (n=5) among pediatric pts with CR of 60% until six weeks f/u. 20% died due to AdV viremia. Multi-virus CTLs Gerdemann et al. (2013) (n=36) did a clinical trial by infusing multi-virus cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) (n=10), reactive against CMV, EBV, and AdV. CR in 80% of the pts. Muranski et al. (2017) performed a phase I trial (n=9) and infused multi-virus CTLs prophylactically. No AdV, BK, or EBV related disease was observed in any pts while 11% pts had asymptomatic AdV viremia. Only those pts who received steroid therapy had CMV reactivation (44%). Ma et al. (2015) performed a phase I/II RCT with an intervention group (n=19, evaluable=10) and control group (n=33) with an infusion of multi-virus CTLs against CMV, EBV, AdV, and VZV after alloSCT, prophylactically. Pts in the intervention group had no reactivation of EBV, AdV, or VZV. 6 (60%) pts with CMV had reactivation; four before T cell therapy and two in the context of steroid therapy. OS at one year was 89% and 81% in the intervention and control group respectively. Third-Party Donor T-cells Tzannou et al. (2017) (n=37) in a phase II study demonstrated ORR of 92% (95% CI, 78.1% to 98.3%) in various viruses with ORR for BK virus 100%, CMV 94%, Adv 71%, EBV 100% and HHV-6 67%. Conclusion Adoptive T cell therapy for viral infections has shown efficacy in Post- allo-SCT pts who achieved complete clearance of infection in many cases, showed only minimal adverse events, and no major risk for GVHD related to this therapy was noted. Disclosures Anwer: Incyte, Seattle Genetics, Acetylon Pharmaceuticals, AbbVie Pharma, Astellas Pharma, Celegene, Millennium Pharmaceuticals.: Honoraria, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau.


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