Antitumor Activity Associated with Prolonged Persistence of Adoptively Transferred NY-ESO-1c259 T Cells in Synovial Sarcoma

We evaluated the safety and activity of autologous T cells expressing NY-ESO-1(c259), an affinity-enhanced T-cell receptor (TCR) recognizing an HLA-A2-restricted NY-ESO-1/LAGE1a-derived peptide, in patients with metastatic synovial sarcoma (NY-ESO-1(c259)T cells). Confirmed antitumor responses occurred in 50% of patients (6/12) and were characterized by tumor shrinkage over several months. Circulating NY-ESO-1(c259)T cells were present postinfusion in all patients and persisted for at least 6 months in all responders. Most of the infused NY-ESO-1(c259)T cells exhibited an effector memory phenotype following ex vivo expansion, but the persisting pools comprised largely central memory and stem-cell memory subsets, which remained polyfunctional and showed no evidence of T-cell exhaustion despite persistent tumor burdens. Next-generation sequencing of endogenous TCRs in CD8(+) NY-ESO-1(c259)T cells revealed clonal diversity without contraction over time. These data suggest that regenerative pools of NY-ESO-1(c259)T cells produced a continuing supply of effector cells to mediate sustained, clinically meaningful antitumor effects. SIGNIFICANCE: Metastatic synovial sarcoma is incurable with standard therapy. We employed engineered T cells targeting NY-ESO-1, and the data suggest that robust, self-regenerating pools of CD8(+) NY-ESO-1(c259)T cells produce a continuing supply of effector cells over several months that mediate clinically meaningful antitumor effects despite prolonged exposure to antigen. (c) 2018 AACR.