Journal
CANCER IMMUNOLOGY IMMUNOTHERAPY
Volume 67, Issue 9, Pages 1381-1391Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s00262-018-2194-0
Keywords
Immunotherapy; PD-L1 blockade; Immunocytokines; IL2; TNF; EDA domain of fibronectin
Categories
Funding
- ETH Zurich
- Swiss National Science Foundation
- European Research Council (ERC Advanced Grant Zauberkugel)
- Swiss Federal Commission for Technology and Innovation (CTI Project DUAL CYTOKINE-ANTIBODY FUSIONS)
- Stiftung zur Krebsbekampfung
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We have recently described a novel therapeutic antibody product (IL2-F8-TNFmut), featuring the simultaneous fusion of murine IL2 and of a TNF mutant with scFv(F8), an antibody specific to the alternatively-spliced extra domain A of fibronectin (EDA). Here, we report on the in vivo characterization of the anti-cancer activity of IL2-F8-TNFmut in four immunocompetent murine models of cancer, CT26, WEHI-164, F9 teratocarcinoma and Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC), using the product alone or in combination with a monoclonal antibody specific to murine PD-L1. All four models exhibited a strong expression of EDA-fibronectin, which was confined to vascular structures for F9 tumors, while the other three malignancies exhibited a more stromal pattern of staining. A complete and long-lasting tumor eradication of CT26 and WEHI-164 tumors was observed in BALB/c mice when IL2-F8-TNFmut was used in combination with PD-L1 blockade. The combination treatment led to improved tumor growth inhibition in 129/SvEv mice bearing murine teratocarcinoma or in C57BL/6 mice bearing murine LLC, but those cancer cures were difficult to achieve in those models. A microscopic analysis of tumor sections, obtained 24 h after pharmacological treatment, revealed that the PD-L1 antibody had homogenously reached tumor cells in vivo and that the combination of PD-L1 blockade with IL2-F8-TNFmut stimulated an influx of NK cells and of T cells into the neoplastic mass. These data indicate that potency-matched dual-cytokine fusion proteins may be ideally suited to potentiate the therapeutic activity of immune check-point inhibitors.
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