| 1. |
- Cedervall, Jessica, et al.
(författare)
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Neutrophil extracellular traps promote cancer-associated inflammation and myocardial stress.
- 2022
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Ingår i: Oncoimmunology. - : Informa UK Limited. - 2162-4011 .- 2162-402X. ; 213, s. S2-S3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Cancer is associated with systemic pathologies that contribute to mortality, such as thrombosis and distant organ failure. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential role of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) in myocardial inflammation and tissue damage in treatment-naïve individuals with cancer. Mice with mammary carcinoma (MMTV-PyMT) had increased plasma levels of NETs measured as H3Cit-DNA complexes, paralleled with elevated coagulation, compared to healthy littermates. MMTV-PyMT mice displayed upregulation of pro-inflammatory markers in the heart, myocardial hypertrophy and elevated cardiac disease biomarkers in the blood, but not echocardiographic heart failure. Moreover, increased endothelial proliferation was observed in hearts from tumor-bearing mice. Removal of NETs by DNase I treatment suppressed the myocardial inflammation, expression of cardiac disease biomarkers and endothelial proliferation. Compared to a healthy control group, treatment-naïve cancer patients with different malignant disorders had increased NET formation, which correlated to plasma levels of the inflammatory marker CRP and the cardiac disease biomarkers NT-proBNP and sTNFR1, in agreement with the mouse data. Altogether, our data indicate that NETs contribute to inflammation and myocardial stress during malignancy. These findings suggest NETs as potential therapeutic targets to prevent cardiac inflammation and dysfunction in cancer patients.
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| 2. |
- Georganaki, Maria, et al.
(författare)
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Tumor endothelial cell up-regulation of IDO1 is an immunosuppressive feed-back mechanism that reduces the response to CD40-stimulating immunotherapy
- 2020
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Ingår i: Oncoimmunology. - : TAYLOR & FRANCIS INC. - 2162-4011 .- 2162-402X. ; 9:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- CD40-stimulating immunotherapy can elicit potent anti-tumor responses by activating dendritic cells and enhancing T-cell priming. Tumor vessels orchestrate T-cell recruitment during immune response, but the effect of CD40-stimulating immunotherapy on tumor endothelial cells has not been evaluated. Here, we have investigated how tumor endothelial cells transcriptionally respond to CD40-stimulating immunotherapy by isolating tumor endothelial cells from agonistic CD40 mAb- or isotype-treated mice bearing B16-F10 melanoma, and performing RNA-sequencing. Gene set enrichment analysis revealed that agonistic CD40 mAb therapy increased interferon (IFN)-related responses in tumor endothelial cells, including up-regulation of the immunosuppressive enzyme Indoleamine 2, 3-Dioxygenase 1 (IDO1). IDO1 was predominantly expressed in endothelial cells within the tumor microenvironment, and its expression in tumor endothelium was positively correlated to T-cell infiltration and to increased intratumoral expression of IFN gamma. In vitro, endothelial cells up-regulated IDO1 in response to T-cell-derived IFN gamma, but not in response to CD40-stimulation. Combining agonistic CD40 mAb therapy with the IDO1 inhibitor epacadostat delayed tumor growth in B16-F10 melanoma, associated with increased activation of tumor-infiltrating T-cells. Hereby, we show that the tumor endothelial cells up-regulate IDO1 upon CD40-stimulating immunotherapy in response to increased IFN gamma-secretion by T-cells, revealing a novel immunosuppressive feedback mechanism whereby tumor vessels limit T-cell activation.
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| 3. |
- Jin, Chuan, 1986-, et al.
(författare)
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Intratumoral administration of pro-inflammatory allogeneic dendritic cells improved the anti-turnor response of systemic anti-CTLA-4 treatment via unleashing a T cell-dependent response
- 2022
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Ingår i: Oncoimmunology. - : Informa UK Limited. - 2162-4011 .- 2162-402X. ; 11:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have revolutionized the oncology field. However, a significant number of patients do not respond, at least partly due to the lack of preexisting anti-tumor T-cell immunity. Therefore, it is emergent to add an immune-priming step to improve efficacy. Here, we report a combined approach consisting of intratumoral administration of pro-inflammatory allogeneic dendritic cells (AlloDCs) and systemic treatment with alpha CTLA-4 that can drastically improve the anti-tumor efficacy compared to alpha CTLA-4 monotherapy. When evaluated in mice with large established CT-26 tumors, monotherapy with alpha CTLA-4 neither delayed tumor progression nor improved mice survival. However, combination treatment of AlloDCs and alpha CTLA-4 drastically improved the effectiveness, with 70% of mice being cured. This effect was T cell-dependent, and all survived mice rejected a subsequent tumor re-challenge. Further investigation revealed an immune-inflamed tumor microenvironment (TME) in the combination treatment group characterized by enhanced infiltration of activated antigen-presenting endogenous DCs and CD8(+) T cells with a tissue-resident memory (T-RM) phenotype (CD49a(+)CD103(+)). This correlated with elevated levels of tumor-specific CD39(+)CD103(+)CD8(+) T cells in the tumor and "tumor-matching" NKG2D(+)CD39(+)CX3CR1(+)CD8(+) T cells in peripheral blood. Moreover, splenocytes from mice in the combination treatment group secreted significantly higher IFN-gamma upon stimulation with the peptide from the endogenous CT-26 retroviral gp70 (model neoantigen), confirming the induction of a tumor-specific CD8(+) T-cell response. Taken together, these data indicate a strong anti-tumor synergy between AlloDCs and alpha CTLA-4 that warrant further clinical investigation with the corresponding human AlloDC product (ilixadencel) for patients receiving alpha CTLA-4 therapy.
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| 4. |
- Lövgren, Tanja, et al.
(författare)
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Complete and long-lasting clinical responses in immune checkpoint inhibitor-resistant, metastasized melanoma treated with adoptive T cell transfer combined with DC vaccination
- 2020
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Ingår i: Oncoimmunology. - : TAYLOR & FRANCIS INC. - 2162-4011 .- 2162-402X. ; 9:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Development of T cell-directed immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) has revolutionized metastatic melanoma (MM) therapy, but <50% of treated patients experience durable responses. This phase I trial (NCT01946373) investigates the safety/feasibility of tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) adoptive cell therapy (ACT) combined with dendritic cell (DC) vaccination in MM patients progressing on ICI. An initial cohort (5 patients) received TIL therapy alone to evaluate safety and allow for optimization of TIL expansion protocols. A second cohort (first-in-man, 5 patients) received TIL combined with autologous tumor lysate-loaded DC vaccination. All patients received cyclophosphamide/fludarabine preconditioning prior to, and intravenous (i.v.) IL-2 after, TIL transfer. The DC vaccine was given as five intradermal injections after TIL and IL-2 administration. [F-18]-FDG PET/CT radiology was performed to evaluate clinical response, according to RECIST 1.1 (on the CT part). Immunological monitoring was performed by flow cytometry and T-cell receptor (TCR) sequencing. In the safety/optimization cohort, all patients had a mixed response or stable disease, but none durable. In the combination cohort, two patients experienced complete responses (CR) that are still ongoing (>36 and >18 months, respectively). In addition, two patients had partial responses (PR), one still ongoing (>42 months) with only a small bone-lesion remaining, and one of short duration (<4 months). One patient died early during treatment and did not receive DC. Long-lasting persistency of the injected TILs was demonstrated in blood. In summary, we report clinical responses by TIL therapy combined with DC vaccination in 4 out of 4 treated MM patients who previously failed ICI.
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| 5. |
- Papadakos, Konstantinos S., et al.
(författare)
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Expression of cartilage oligomeric matrix protein in periampullary adenocarcinoma is associated with pancreatobiliary-type morphology, higher levels of fibrosis and immune cell exclusion
- 2022
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Ingår i: Oncoimmunology. - : Taylor & Francis. - 2162-4011 .- 2162-402X. ; 11:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) is an emerging regulator of tumor progression. The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of COMP in periampullary adenocarcinoma with respect to prognostic value for survival and relapse, levels of fibrosis and infiltrating immune cells. COMP expression was evaluated using immunohistochemistry in primary tumors and subsets of paired lymph node metastases in tissue microarrays including 175 patients with periampullary adenocarcinoma. Collagen content was assessed with Sirius Red-Fast Green staining. High COMP levels were detected in cancer cells and in stroma, in 46% and 57% of the patients, respectively. High COMP expression was strongly associated with more aggressive pancreatobiliary-type (PB-type) compared to intestinal-type tumors (p < .0001). Importantly, high expression of COMP correlated with the exclusion of cytotoxic T-cells from the cancer cell compartment of the tumors, particularly in PB-type tumors. Higher levels of fibrosis measured by the density of collagen fibers correlated with high COMP levels in both cancer cells and stroma. This in turn could lead to exclusion of cytotoxic T-cells from accessing the cancer cells, a recognized immunotherapy resistance mechanism. Targeting COMP could therefore be considered as a novel therapeutic strategy in PB-type periampullary adenocarcinoma.
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| 6. |
- Sandström Gerdtsson, Anna, et al.
(författare)
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Phenotypic characterization of spatial immune infiltration niches in non-small cell lung cancer
- 2023
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Ingår i: Oncoimmunology. - : Taylor & Francis. - 2162-4011 .- 2162-402X. ; 12:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The immune microenvironment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is heterogeneous, which impedes the prediction of response to immune checkpoint inhibitors. We have mapped the expression of 49 proteins to spatial immune niches in 33 NSCLC tumors and report key differences in phenotype and function associated with the spatial context of immune infiltration. Tumor-infiltrating leukocytes (TIL), identified in 42% of tumors, had a similar proportion of lymphocyte antigens compared to stromal leukocytes (SL) but displayed significantly higher levels of functional, mainly immune suppressive, markers including PD-L1, PD-L2, CTLA-4, B7-H3, OX40L, and IDO1. In contrast, SL expressed higher levels of the targetable T-cell activation marker CD27, which increased with a longer distance to the tumor. Correlation analysis confirmed that metabolic-driven immune regulatory mechanisms, including ARG1 and IDO1, are present in the TIL. Tertiary lymphoid structures (TLS) were identified in 30% of patients. They displayed less variation in the expression profile and with significantly higher levels of pan lymphocyte and activation markers, dendritic cells, and antigen presentation compared to other immune niches. TLS also had higher CTLA-4 expression than non-structured SL, which may indicate immune dysfunction. Neither the presence of TIL nor TLS was associated with improved clinical outcomes. The apparent discrimination in functional profiles of distinct immune niches, independent of the overall level of leukocytes, illustrates the importance of spatial profiling to deconvolute how the immune microenvironment can dictate a therapeutic response and to identify biomarkers in the context of immunomodulatory treatment.
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| 7. |
- Sundström, Patrik, et al.
(författare)
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Immune checkpoint blockade improves the activation and function of circulating mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells in patients with non-small cell lung cancer
- 2024
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Ingår i: OncoImmunology. - 2162-4011 .- 2162-402X. ; 13:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells constitute one of the most numerous unconventional T cell subsets, and are characterized by rapid release of Th1- and Th17-associated cytokines and increased cytotoxic functions following activation. MAIT cells accumulate in tumor tissue but show an exhausted phenotype. Here, we investigated if immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) with antibodies to PD-1 or PD-L1 affects the function of circulating MAIT cells from non-small cell lung cancer patients. ICB increased the proliferation and co-expression of the activation markers HLA-DR and CD38 on MAIT cells in most patients after the first treatment cycle, irrespective of treatment outcome. Furthermore, production of cytokines, especially TNF and IL-2, also increased after treatment, as did MAIT cell polyfunctionality. These results indicate that MAIT cells respond to ICB, and that MAIT cell reinvigoration may contribute to tumor regression in patients undergoing immune checkpoint therapy.
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| 8. |
- Ujvari, Dorina, et al.
(författare)
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IFNγ directly counteracts imatinib-induced apoptosis of primary human CD34+ CML stem/progenitor cells potentially through the upregulation of multiple key survival factors
- 2022
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Ingår i: Oncoimmunology. - : Taylor & Francis. - 2162-4011 .- 2162-402X. ; 11:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) have dramatically improved the survival in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), but residual disease typically persists even after prolonged treatment. Several lines of evidence suggest that TKIs administered to CML patients upregulate interferon γ (IFNγ) production, which may counteract the anti-tumorigenic effects of the therapy. We now show that activated T cell-conditioned medium (TCM) enhanced proliferation and counteracted imatinib-induced apoptosis of CML cells, and addition of a neutralizing anti-IFNγ antibody at least partially inhibited the anti-apoptotic effect. Likewise, recombinant IFNγ also reduced imatinib-induced apoptosis of CML cells. This anti-apoptotic effect of IFNγ was independent of alternative IFNγ signaling pathways, but could be notably diminished by STAT1-knockdown. Furthermore, IFNγ upregulated the expression of several anti-apoptotic proteins, including MCL1, PARP9, and PARP14, both in untreated and imatinib-treated primary human CD34+ CML stem/progenitor cells. Our results suggest that activated T cells in imatinib-treated CML patients can directly rescue CML cells from imatinib-induced apoptosis at least partially through the secretion of IFNγ, which exerts a rapid, STAT1-dependent anti-apoptotic effect potentially through the simultaneous upregulation of several key hematopoietic survival factors. These mechanisms may have a major clinical impact, when targeting residual leukemic stem/progenitor cells in CML.
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| 9. |
- Valachis, Antonis, 1984-, et al.
(författare)
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Improved survival without increased toxicity with influenza vaccination in cancer patients treated with checkpoint inhibitors
- 2021
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Ingår i: Oncoimmunology. - : Taylor & Francis. - 2162-4011 .- 2162-402X. ; 10:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In international guidelines, influenza vaccination is recommended to cancer patients receiving antitumor treatment. Whether this recommendation should include patients treated with the recently introduced and now widely used checkpoint inhibitors (CPIs) is unclear. The immune hyperactivation after vaccination in a patient on CPI treatment may strengthen the antitumor immunity and improve patients´ prognosis. On the other hand, the hyperactivation might increase the risk for immune-related adverse events (IRAEs). Furthermore, there is a risk for decreased antitumor effect by the phenomenon of antigenic competition. Only results from few studies addressing survival have been reported and the results from studies on IRAEs are contradictory. We performed a multi-center retrospective cohort study at three Swedish centers in patients with metastatic cancer. All patients previously not treated with CPIs and who received monotherapy with a PD-1 or PD-L1 blocker between January 1st, 2016 until May 31st, 2019 were included. The most common type of malignancy was melanoma (47.8%) followed by non-small cell lung cancer (31.0%). Statistically significant longer PFS and OS were observed in multivariate analyses at 6-month landmark time in the vaccinated compared to the non-vaccinated group after adjustment for age, gender, comorbidity, performance status, CNS metastasis and line of treatment (p = .041 and 0.028, respectively). Furthermore, the incidence of any IRAE grade was comparable between vaccinated and non-vaccinated group (p = .85). In conclusion, the current study indicates that survival improves with influenza vaccination while not increasing the risk for side effects in cancer patients treated with checkpoint inhibitors. Hence, our results strongly support influenza vaccination in cancer patients receiving checkpoint inhibitors.
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| 10. |
- Valind, Anders, et al.
(författare)
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Macrophage infiltration promotes regrowth in MYCN-amplified neuroblastoma after chemotherapy
- 2023
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Ingår i: OncoImmunology. - 2162-4011 .- 2162-402X. ; 12:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Despite aggressive treatment, the 5-year event-free survival rate for children with high-risk neuroblastoma is <50%. While most high-risk neuroblastoma patients initially respond to treatment, often with complete clinical remission, many eventually relapse with therapy-resistant tumors. Novel therapeutic alternatives that prevent the recurrence of therapy-resistant tumors are urgently needed. To understand the adaptation of neuroblastoma under therapy, we analyzed the transcriptomic landscape in 46 clinical tumor samples collected before (PRE) or after (POST) treatment from 22 neuroblastoma patients. RNA sequencing revealed that many of the top-upregulated biological processes in POST MYCN amplified (MNA +) tumors compared to PRE MNA + tumors were immune-related, and there was a significant increase in numerous genes associated with macrophages. The infiltration of macrophages was corroborated by immunohistochemistry and spatial digital protein profiling. Moreover, POST MNA + tumor cells were more immunogenic compared to PRE MNA + tumor cells. To find support for the macrophage-induced outgrowth of certain subpopulations of immunogenic tumor cells following treatment, we examined the genetic landscape in multiple clinical PRE and POST tumor samples from nine neuroblastoma patients revealing a significant correlation between an increased amount of copy number aberrations (CNA) and macrophage infiltration in POST MNA + tumor samples. Using an in vivo neuroblastoma patient-derived xenograft (PDX) chemotherapy model, we further show that inhibition of macrophage recruitment with anti-CSF1R treatment prevents the regrowth of MNA + tumors following chemotherapy. Taken together, our work supports a therapeutic strategy for fighting the relapse of MNA + neuroblastoma by targeting the immune microenvironment.
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