Abstract 527: High-dimensional profiling of the systemic immune response informs on optimal sequencing of radiotherapy (RT) and immune checkpoint blockade (ICB)

Author(s):  
Kevin L. Chua ◽  
Michael Fehlings ◽  
Pek Lim Chu ◽  
Xiao-Tian Lin ◽  
Eugenia Yeo ◽  
...  
2015 ◽  
Vol 21 (20) ◽  
pp. 4607-4618 ◽  
Author(s):  
Güllü Görgün ◽  
Mehmet K. Samur ◽  
Kristen B. Cowens ◽  
Steven Paula ◽  
Giada Bianchi ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Huapan Fang ◽  
Zhaopei Guo ◽  
Jie Chen ◽  
Lin Lin ◽  
Yingying Hu ◽  
...  

AbstractImmunotherapy has become a powerful cancer treatment, but only a small fraction of patients have achieved durable benefits due to the immune escape mechanism. In this study, epigenetic regulation is combined with gene therapy-mediated immune checkpoint blockade to relieve this immune escape mechanism. PPD (i.e., mPEG-b-PLG/PEI-RT3/DNA) is developed to mediate plasmid-encoding shPD-L1 delivery by introducing multiple interactions (i.e., electrostatic, hydrogen bonding, and hydrophobic interactions) and polyproline II (PPII)-helix conformation, which downregulates PD-L1 expression on tumour cells to relieve the immunosuppression of T cells. Zebularine (abbreviated as Zeb), a DNA methyltransferase inhibitor (DNMTi), is used for the epigenetic regulation of the tumour immune microenvironment, thus inducing DC maturation and MHC I molecule expression to enhance antigen presentation. PPD plus Zeb combination therapy initiates a systemic anti-tumour immune response and effectively prevents tumour relapse and metastasis by generating durable immune memory. This strategy provides a scheme for tumour treatment and the inhibition of relapse and metastasis.


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.


2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (8_suppl) ◽  
pp. 13-13
Author(s):  
Kevin Lee Min Chua ◽  
Michael Fehlings ◽  
Pek Lim Chu ◽  
Xiao-Tian Lin ◽  
Eugenia Yeo ◽  
...  

13 Background: Combinatorial RT-ICB potentiates anti-tumour reactivity by modulating the immune response. We therefore performed in-depth phenotypic profiling of the systemic T cell compartment following treatment with RT-ICB. Methods: We recruited 20 patients with biopsy-proven metastatic renal cell and non-small cell lung carcinoma, who were treated with a sandwich regime of ICB-RT-ICB under a prospective observational study protocol, and compared against a RT alone-treated cohort (N = 10). All patients received ablative RT (8-50 Gy/1-5 fr) for oligoprogression and/or local palliation. Blood samples were longitudinally collected at pre-RT, 14 d post-RT and cycle 2 ICB post-RT. Deep T cell profiling was performed by mass cytometry using a customised 41 parameter panel, together with high dimensional analysis tools. Results: Median follow-up of the overall cohort was 18 mo; median duration of ICB received in the ICB-RT-ICB arm was 15 mo. We observed significant diversity of the systemic T cell repertoire between patients at baseline, and this corresponded to significant interpatient heterogeneity in T cell responses specific to the central/effector memory, EMRA and Treg subsets post-RT. Dramatic local response (complete response at 1 mo post-RT) was significantly higher in the ICB-RT-ICB cohort compared to the RT alone cohort (12/20 vs 1/10, P <0.01). This clinical phenomenon corresponded to an increased % Ki67highCD8 and CD4 T cells post-RT exclusively in the combinatorial treated cohort, which was further enhanced upon resumption of ICB (mean = 10% vs 3% [CD8]; 13% vs 2% [CD4]; P <0.01). Deeper immunophenotyping of the Ki67high subsets revealed associated high expression of GranzymeB and Eomes. Conclusions: Here, we observed changes in the T cell phenotypes that varied remarkably across all patients following RT. We further highlight a RT-dependent T cell proliferation amongst all RT-ICB-treated patients that was further enhanced by ICB in prior responders. This immune phenomenon may account for the dramatic responses to combinatorial treatment, and informs on optimal sequencing strategies for combining RT and ICB.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. e002970
Author(s):  
Yu-Chao Zhu ◽  
Hany M Elsheikha ◽  
Jian-Hua Wang ◽  
Shuai Fang ◽  
Jun-Jun He ◽  
...  

BackgroundIn this study, we hypothesize that the ability of the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii to modulate immune response within the tumor might improve the therapeutic effect of immune checkpoint blockade. We examined the synergetic therapeutic activity of attenuated T. gondii RH ΔGRA17 strain and programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) treatment on both targeted and distal tumors in mice.MethodsThe effects of administration of T. gondii RH ΔGRA17 strain on the tumor volume and survival rate of mice bearing flank B16-F10, MC38, or LLC tumors were studied. We characterized the effects of ΔGRA17 on tumor biomarkers’ expression, PD-L1 expression, immune cells infiltrating the tumors, and expression of immune-related genes by using immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence, flow cytometry, NanoString platform, and real-time quantitative PCR, respectively. The role of immune cells in the efficacy of ΔGRA17 plus PD-L1 blockade therapy was determined via depletion of immune cell subtypes.ResultsTreatment with T. gondii ΔGRA17 tachyzoites and anti-PD-L1 therapy significantly extended the survival of mice and suppressed tumor growth in preclinical mouse models of melanoma, Lewis lung carcinoma, and colon adenocarcinoma. Attenuation of the tumor growth was detected in the injected and distant tumors, which was associated with upregulation of innate and adaptive immune pathways. Complete regression of tumors was underpinned by late interferon-gamma-producing CD8+ cytotoxic T cells.ConclusionThe results from these models indicate that intratumoral injection of ΔGRA17 induced a systemic effect, improved mouse immune response, and sensitized immunologically ‘cold’ tumors and rendered them sensitive to immune checkpoint blockade therapy.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 269-275
Author(s):  
Sherven Sharma ◽  
◽  
Pournima Kadam ◽  
Ram P Singh ◽  
Michael Davoodi ◽  
...  

<abstract> <p>Targeting inhibitory immune checkpoint molecules has highlighted the need to find approaches enabling the induction and activation of an immune response against cancer. Therapeutic vaccination, which can induce a specific immune response against tumor antigens, is an important approach to consider. Although this approach has shown low clinical efficacy when combined with other treatment modalities, therapeutic cancer vaccines will have a better outcome when combined with immune checkpoint blockade therapy with potential for cancer free survival. In this review, we will discuss the results of our two recent publications in preclinical lung cancer models. Our studies reveal that anti-PD-1 administered in combination with CCL21-DC tumor antigen therapeutic vaccines eradicate lung cancer. The results of these studies highlight the importance of combination therapy of immune checkpoint blockade and therapeutic cancer vaccines for lung cancer patients.</p> </abstract>


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