Targeted Alpha-Particle Radiotherapy and Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors Induces Cooperative Inhibition on Tumor Growth of Malignant Melanoma

Cancers

Zachary S. Morris¹  Zuhair K. Ballas²  Dongyoul Lee³  Yinwen Cheng⁴  Dijie Liu⁵  Frances L. Johnson⁵  Michael K. Schultz⁵  Mengshi Li⁵  Brenna M. Marks⁵  Nicholas J. Baumhover⁵  Edwin A. Sagastume⁵ 

[1] Department of Human Oncology, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53705, USA;Department of Internal Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA;Department of Radiology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA;Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Human Toxicology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA;Viewpoint Molecular Targeting, Inc., Coralville, IA 52241, USA;

关键词: immunotherapy;    alpha-particle radiotherapy;    immunogenic cell death;    immune checkpoint inhibitors;    melanoma;   

DOI  :  10.3390/cancers13153676

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Radiotherapy can facilitate the immune recognition of immunologically “cold” tumors and enhance the efficacy of anti-PD-1 and anti-CTLA-4 immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in melanoma. Systemic administration of receptor-targeted radionuclide therapy has the potential to selectively deliver radionuclides to multiple tumors throughout the body in metastatic settings. By triggering immunologic cell death and increasing the immune susceptibility of surviving tumor cells in these locations, targeted radionuclide therapies may overcome resistance to ICIs and render immunologically “cold” tumors throughout the body responsive to ICIs and immunologically “hot”. Here, we show the anti-tumor cooperation of targeted α-particle radionuclide therapy (α-TRT) and ICIs in preclinical models of melanoma. Melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R)-targeted radiopeptide [²¹²Pb]VMT01 was employed to deliver α-radiation to melanoma tumors in mice. A single injection of 4.1 MBq [²¹²Pb]VMT01 significantly slowed the tumor growth of B16-F10 melanoma and the combination of [²¹²Pb]VMT01 and ICIs induced a cooperative anti-tumor effect leading to 43% complete tumor response with no sign of malignancy on autopsy. Animals with complete response developed anti-tumor immunity to reject further tumor inoculations. This therapeutic cooperation was completely abolished in RAG1 KO mice, which are deficient in T-cell maturation. In addition, the anti-tumor cooperation was compromised when fractionated [²¹²Pb]VMT01 was used in the combination. We also demonstrated that [²¹²Pb]VMT01 induced immunogenic cell death in tumor vaccination assays and in vitro exposure to [²¹²Pb]VMT01 sensitized immunotolerant melanoma to ICIs treatment in vivo. Enhanced tumor infiltrating CD3⁺, CD4⁺, CD8⁺ lymphocytes were observed following injection of 1.4 MBq [²¹²Pb]VMT01. Overall, we demonstrated anti-tumor cooperation between α-TRT and ICIs in melanoma that is mediated by tumor specific immunity.

【 授权许可】

Unknown