Veristrat based stratification of responses to immune checkpoint blockade (ICB).

2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e20512-e20512
Author(s):  
Paul R. Walker ◽  
Nitika Sharma ◽  
Chipman Robert Geoffrey Stroud ◽  
Mahvish Muzaffar ◽  
Cynthia R. Cherry ◽  
...  

e20512 Background: Veristrat (Biodesix, Boulder, CO) is a blood based proteomic assay that is dominated by inflammatory proteins and is prognostic and predictive in metastatic NSCLC after treatment with platinum based chemotherapy (Gregorc et al, Lancet 2014). Smoldering inflammation in the tumor microenvironment regulates and escalates cancer invasion, angiogenesis and immune surveillance escape (Balkwill and Mantovani, Lancet 2001). There is preclinical evidence to suggest that the tumor microenvironment can be altered with immunomodulatory interventions (Martino et al, 2016). While immune checkpoint blockade has shown durable benefit in metastatic NSCLC, the response rates still hover around 20%. As a result, identification of predictive biomarkers are of critical importance. The predictive value of the Veristrat assay with respect to ICB is poorly defined. Methods: At our institution, 83 pts with metastatic lung cancer pts were treated with nivolumab between 6/2015 to 12/2016. The following clinicopathologic characteristics were abstracted from medical records: tumor histology, Veristrat status, no. of doses of nivolumab, irAEs and overall survival. Results: Of the 83 pts, 65 pts were found to have NSCLC. Veristrat status was available for 17/65 of these pts. Nine pts were identified to have “Veristrat good” and seven pts were “Veristrat poor”. Median number of nivolumab doses was 4. Median survival for all patients was 30 weeks. Median survival was 20 weeks for “Veristrat poor” and 26 weeks for “Veristrat good”(p = 0.68). Grade 3-4 irAEs were noted in 5/9 patients with “Veristrat good” and 5/7 patients with “Veristrat poor”. Conclusions: “Veristrat poor” pts treated with ICB have a lower median survival as compared to “Veristrat good” pts. Our study did not meet statistically significant end point due to limited sample size. Further studies are needed to identify poorly immunogenic tumors and develop novel treatment approaches to optimize outcomes. [Table: see text]

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Farias ◽  
A. Soto ◽  
F. Puttur ◽  
C. J. Goldin ◽  
S. Sosa ◽  
...  

AbstractBrucella lumazine synthase (BLS) is a homodecameric protein that activates dendritic cells via toll like receptor 4, inducing the secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines. We have previously shown that BLS has a therapeutic effect in B16 melanoma-bearing mice only when administered at early stages of tumor growth. In this work, we study the mechanisms underlying the therapeutic effect of BLS, by analyzing the tumor microenvironment. Administration of BLS at early stages of tumor growth induces high levels of serum IFN-γ, as well as an increment of hematopoietic immune cells within the tumor. Moreover, BLS-treatment increases the ratio of effector to regulatory cells. However, all treated mice eventually succumb to the tumors. Therefore, we combined BLS administration with anti-PD-1 treatment. Combined treatment increases the outcome of both monotherapies. In conclusion, we show that the absence of the therapeutic effect at late stages of tumor growth correlates with low levels of serum IFN-γ and lower infiltration of immune cells in the tumor, both of which are essential to delay tumor growth. Furthermore, the combined treatment of BLS and PD-1 blockade shows that BLS could be exploited as an essential immunomodulator in combination therapy with an immune checkpoint blockade to treat skin cancer.


2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. ii108-ii108
Author(s):  
Jayeeta Ghose ◽  
Baisakhi Raychaudhuri ◽  
Kevin Liu ◽  
William Jiang ◽  
Pooja Gulati ◽  
...  

Abstract BACKGROUND Glioblastoma (GBM) is associated with systemic and intratumoral immunosuppression. Part of this immunosuppression is mediated by myeloid derived suppressor cells (MDSCs). Preclinical evidence shows that ibrutinib, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor FDA approved for use in chronic lymphocytic leukemia and known to be CNS penetrant, can decrease MDSC generation and function. Also, focal radiation therapy (RT) synergizes with anti-PD-1 therapy in mouse GBM models. Thus, we aimed to test the combination of these approaches on immune activation and survival in a preclinical immune-intact GBM mouse model. METHODS C57BL/6 mice intracranially implanted with the murine glioma cell line GL261-Luc2 were divided into 8 groups consisting of treatments with ibrutinib, RT (10 Gy SRS), or anti-PD-1 individually or in each combination (along with a no treatment control group). Immune cell subset changes (flow-cytometry) and animal survival (Kaplan-Meier) were assessed (n=10 mice per group). RESULTS Median survival of the following groups including control (28 days), ibrutinib (27 days), RT (30 days) or anti-PD-1 (32 days) showed no significant differences. However, a significant improvement in median survival was seen in mice given combinations of ibrutinib+RT (35 days), ibrutinib+anti-PD-1 (38 days), and triple therapy with ibrutinib+RT+anti-PD-1 (48 days, p < 0.05) compared to controls or single treatment groups. The reproducible survival benefit of triple combination therapy was abrogated in the setting of CD4+ and CD8+ T cell depletion. Contralateral intracranial tumor re-challenge in long-term surviving mice suggested generation of tumor-specific immune memory responses. The immune profile of the tumor microenvironment (TME) showed increased cytotoxic CD8+ T cells and decreased MDSCs and regulatory T cells in the triple combination therapy mice compared to controls. CONCLUSION The combination of ibrutinib, focal RT, and anti-PD-1 immune checkpoint blockade led to a significant survival benefit compared to controls in a preclinical model of GBM.


Immunotherapy ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 515-529 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yue Song ◽  
Zhaoming Li ◽  
Weili Xue ◽  
Mingzhi Zhang

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. e000374 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhihao Lu ◽  
Huan Chen ◽  
Shuang Li ◽  
Jifang Gong ◽  
Jian Li ◽  
...  

BackgroundDespite the great achievements made in immune-checkpoint-blockade (ICB) in cancer therapy, there are no effective predictive biomarkers in gastrointestinal (GI) cancer.MethodsThis study included 93 metastatic GI patients treated with ICBs. The first cohort comprising 73 GI cancer patients were randomly assigned into discovery (n=44) and validation (n=29) cohorts. Comprehensive genomic profiling was performed on all samples to determine tumor mutational burden (TMB) and copy-number alterations (CNAs). A subset of samples was collected for RNA immune oncology (IO) panel sequencing, microsatellite instability (MSI)/mismatch repair and program death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression evaluation. In addition, 20 gastric cancer (GC) patients were recruited as the second validation cohort.ResultsIn the first cohort of 73 GI cancer patients, a lower burden of CNA was observed in patients with durable clinical benefit (DCB). In both the discovery (n=44) and validation (n=29) subsets, lower burden of CNA was associated with an improved clinical benefit and better overall survival (OS). Efficacy also correlated with a higher TMB. Of note, a combinatorial biomarker of TMB and CNA may better stratify DCB patients from ICB treatment, which was further confirmed in the second validation cohort of 20 GC patients. Finally, patients with lower burden of CNA revealed increased immune signatures in our cohort and The Cancer Genome Atlas data sets as well.ConclusionsOur results suggest that the burden of CNA may have superior predictive value compared with other signatures, including PD-L1, MSI and TMB. The joint biomarker of CNA burden and TMB may better stratify DCB patients, thereby providing a rational choice for GI patients treated with ICBs.


2020 ◽  
Vol 220 ◽  
pp. 88-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yaqi Li ◽  
Jing Liu ◽  
Long Gao ◽  
Yuan Liu ◽  
Fang Meng ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (501) ◽  
pp. eaav7816 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachael M. Zemek ◽  
Emma De Jong ◽  
Wee Loong Chin ◽  
Iona S. Schuster ◽  
Vanessa S. Fear ◽  
...  

Cancer immunotherapy using antibodies that target immune checkpoints has delivered outstanding results. However, responses only occur in a subset of patients, and it is not fully understood what biological processes determine an effective outcome. This lack of understanding hinders the development of rational combination treatments. We set out to define the pretreatment microenvironment associated with an effective outcome by using the fact that inbred mouse strains bearing monoclonal cancer cell line–derived tumors respond in a dichotomous manner to immune checkpoint blockade (ICB). We compared the cellular composition and gene expression profiles of responsive and nonresponsive tumors from mice before ICB and validated the findings in cohorts of patients with cancer treated with ICB antibodies. We found that responsive tumors were characterized by an inflammatory gene expression signature consistent with up-regulation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT1) and Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3) signaling and down-regulation of interleukin-10 (IL-10) signaling. In addition, responsive tumors had more infiltrating-activated natural killer (NK) cells, which were necessary for response. Pretreatment of mice with large established tumors using the STAT1-activating cytokine interferon-γ (IFNγ), the TLR3 ligand poly(I:C), and an anti–IL-10 antibody sensitized tumors to ICB by attracting IFNγ-producing NK cells into the tumor, resulting in increased cure rates. Our results identify a pretreatment tumor microenvironment that predicts response to ICB, which can be therapeutically attained. These data suggest a biomarker-driven approach to patient management to establish whether a patient would benefit from treatment with sensitizing therapeutics before ICB.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document