Enhancement of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor-Mediated Anti-Cancer Immunity by Intranasal Treatment of Ecklonia cava Fucoidan against Metastatic Lung Cancer

Although fucoidan, a well-studied seaweed-extracted polysaccharide, has shown immune stimulatory effects that elicit anticancer immunity, mucosal adjuvant effects via intranasal administration have not been studied. In this study, the effect of Ecklonia cava-extracted fucoidan (ECF) on the induction of anti-cancer immunity in the lung was examined by intranasal administration. In C57BL/6 and BALB/c mice, intranasal administration of ECF promoted the activation of dendritic cells (DCs), natural killer (NK) cells, and T cells in the mediastinal lymph node (mLN). The ECF-induced NK and T cell activation was mediated by DCs. In addition, intranasal injection with ECF enhanced the anti-PD-L1 antibody-mediated anti-cancer activities against B16 melanoma and CT-26 carcinoma tumor growth in the lungs, which were required cytotoxic T lymphocytes and NK cells. Thus, these data demonstrated that ECF functioned as a mucosal adjuvant that enhanced the immunotherapeutic effect of immune checkpoint inhibitors against metastatic lung cancer.

Automated summary

Intranasal administration of Ecklonia cava-extracted fucoidan (ECF) was found to induce anti-cancer immunity in the lung by promoting the activation of dendritic cells, natural killer cells, and T cells. Furthermore, ECF enhanced the anti-cancer activities against melanoma and carcinoma tumor growth in the lungs, showing potential as a mucosal adjuvant for enhancing immunotherapeutic effects.