| 1. |
- Blokzijl, Andries, et al.
(författare)
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Elevated Levels of SOX10 in Serum from Vitiligo and Melanoma Patients, Analyzed by Proximity Ligation Assay
- 2016
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Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 11:4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BackgroundThe diagnosis of malignant melanoma currently relies on clinical inspection of the skin surface and on the histopathological status of the excised tumor. The serum marker S100B is used for prognostic estimates at later stages of the disease, but analyses are marred by false positives and inadequate sensitivity in predicting relapsing disorder.ObjectivesTo investigate SOX10 as a potential biomarker for melanoma and vitiligo.MethodsIn this study we have applied proximity ligation assay (PLA) to detect the transcription factor SOX10 as a possible serum marker for melanoma. We studied a cohort of 110 melanoma patients. We further investigated a second cohort of 85 patients with vitiligo, which is a disease that also affects melanocytes.ResultsThe specificity of the SOX10 assay in serum was high, with only 1% of healthy blood donors being positive. In contrast, elevated serum SOX10 was found with high frequency among vitiligo and melanoma patients. In patients with metastases, lack of SOX10 detection was associated with treatment benefit. In two responding patients, a change from SOX10 positivity to undetectable levels was seen before the response was evident clinically.ConclusionsWe show for the first time that SOX10 represents a promising new serum melanoma marker for detection of early stage disease, complementing the established S100B marker. Our findings imply that SOX10 can be used to monitor responses to treatment and to assess if the treatment is of benefit at stages earlier than what is possible radiologically.
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Eriksson, Emma, et al.
(författare)
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Activation of myeloid and endothelial cells by CD40L gene therapy supports T-cell expansion and migration into the tumor microenvironment
- 2017
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Ingår i: Gene Therapy. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0969-7128 .- 1476-5462. ; 24:2, s. 92-103
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- CD40 is an interesting target in cancer immunotherapy due to its ability to stimulate T-helper 1 immunity via maturation of dendritic cells and to drive M2 to M1 macrophage differentiation. Pancreatic cancer has a high M2 content that has shown responsive to anti-CD40 agonist therapy and CD40 may thus be a suitable target for immune activation in these patients. In this study, a novel oncolytic adenovirus armed with a trimerized membrane-bound extracellular CD40L (TMZ-CD40L) was evaluated as a treatment of pancreatic cancer. Further, the CD40L mechanisms of action were elucidated in cancer models. The results demonstrated that the virus transferring TMZ-CD40L had oncolytic capacity in pancreatic cancer cells and could control tumor progression. TMZ-CD40L was a potent stimulator of human myeloid cells and T-cell responses. Further, CD40L-mediated stimulation increased tumor-infiltrating T cells in vivo, which may be due to a direct activation of endothelial cells to upregulate receptors for lymphocyte attachment and transmigration. In conclusion, CD40L-mediated gene therapy is an interesting concept for the treatment of tumors with high levels of M2 macrophages, such as pancreatic cancer, and an oncolytic virus as carrier of CD40L may further boost tumor killing and immune activation.
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| 4. |
- Eriksson, Emma, et al.
(författare)
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Gemcitabine reduces MDSCs, tregs and TGF beta-1 while restoring the teff/treg ratio in patients with pancreatic cancer
- 2016
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Ingår i: Journal of Translational Medicine. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1479-5876 .- 1479-5876. ; 14
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Cancer immunotherapy can be potentiated by conditioning regimens such as cyclophosphamide, which reduces the level of regulatory T cells (tregs). However, myeloid suppressive cells are still remaining. Accordingly to previous reports, gemcitabine improves immune status of cancer patients. In this study, the role of gemcitabine was further explored to map its immunological target cells and molecules in patients with pancreatic cancer.Methods: Patient blood was investigated by flow cytometry and cytokine arrays at different time points during gemcitabine treatment.Results: The patients had elevated myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), and Tregs at diagnosis. Myeloid cells were in general decreased by gemcitabine. The granulocytic MDSCs were significantly reduced while monocytic MDSCs were not affected. In vitro, monocytes responding to IL-6 by STAT3 phosphorylation were prevented to respond in gemcitabine medium. However, gemcitabine could not prevent STAT3 phosphorylation in IL-6-treated tumor cell lines. TGF beta-1 was significantly reduced after only one treatment and continued to decrease. At the same time, the effector T cell:Treg ratio was increased and the effector T cells had full proliferative capacity during the gemcitabine cycle. However, after a resting period, the level of suppressor cells and TGF beta-1 had been restored showing the importance of continuous conditioning.Conclusions: Gemcitabine regulates the immune system in patients with pancreatic cancer including MDSCs, Tregs and molecules such as TGF beta-1 but does not hamper the ability of effector lymphocytes to expand to stimuli. Hence, it may be of high interest to use gemcitabine as a conditioning strategy together with immunotherapy.
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| 5. |
- Gremel, Gabriela, et al.
(författare)
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A systematic search strategy identifies cubilin as independent prognostic marker for renal cell carcinoma
- 2017
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Ingår i: BMC Cancer. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1471-2407 .- 1471-2407. ; 17
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: There is an unmet clinical need for better prognostic and diagnostic tools for renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Methods: Human Protein Atlas data resources, including the transcriptomes and proteomes of normal and malignant human tissues, were searched for RCC-specific proteins and cubilin (CUBN) identified as a candidate. Patient tissue representing various cancer types was constructed into a tissue microarray (n = 940) and immunohistochemistry used to investigate the specificity of CUBN expression in RCC as compared to other cancers. Two independent RCC cohorts (n = 181; n = 114) were analyzed to further establish the sensitivity of CUBN as RCC-specific marker and to explore if the fraction of RCCs lacking CUBN expression could predict differences in patient survival. Results: CUBN was identified as highly RCC-specific protein with 58% of all primary RCCs staining positive for CUBN using immunohistochemistry. In venous tumor thrombi and metastatic lesions, the frequency of CUBN expression was increasingly lost. Clear cell RCC (ccRCC) patients with CUBN positive tumors had a significantly better prognosis compared to patients with CUBN negative tumors, independent of T-stage, Fuhrman grade and nodal status (HR 0.382, CI 0.203-0.719, P = 0.003). Conclusions: CUBN expression is highly specific to RCC and loss of the protein is significantly and independently associated with poor prognosis. CUBN expression in ccRCC provides a promising positive prognostic indicator for patients with ccRCC. The high specificity of CUBN expression in RCC also suggests a role as a new diagnostic marker in clinical cancer differential diagnostics to confirm or rule out RCC.
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| 6. |
- Irenaeus, Sandra, et al.
(författare)
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First-in-human study with intratumoral administration of a CD40 agonistic antibody, ADC-1013, in advanced solid malignancies
- 2019
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Ingår i: International Journal of Cancer. - : WILEY. - 0020-7136 .- 1097-0215. ; 145:5, s. 1189-1199
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Agonistic CD40 antibodies activate dendritic cells and can expand and activate tumor-specific T cells. Our purpose was to assess the CD40 agonistic antibody ADC-1013 in the clinical setting including intratumoral administration since preclinical studies have indicated that intratumoral is better than intravenous administration. A Phase I, open label, multicenter study was conducted in patients with advanced solid tumors who had received established treatments. A modified 3 + 3 dose-escalation was applied (every other week dosing). Twenty-three patients were treated with ADC-1013 intratumorally (dosing from 22.5 mu g/kg up to 400 mu g/kg) or intravenously (dosing at 75 mu g/kg). The pharmacodynamic effects observed in the patients were further verified in an hCD40tg mouse model. Adverse events were mostly Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) Grades 1 or 2 and transient. The serum concentration ADC-1013 and cytokine release (MCP-1, TNF alpha and IL-6) were more pronounced in patients receiving injections in deep metastases compared to patients receiving injections in superficial metastases. Treatment with ADC-1013 resulted in a marked decrease in B cell levels in peripheral blood after 24 h while remaining B cells significantly increased their expression of the cell surface activation marker CD86. Activation of antigen-presenting cells and subsequent activation of T cells were demonstrated in hCD40tg mice. Moreover, ADC-1013 treatment in this mouse model acted synergistically with a PD-1 inhibitor. The results from the first-in-human study of ADC-1013 indicate that intratumoral administration of ADC-1013 into superficial lesions is well tolerated at clinically relevant doses and associated with pharmacodynamic responses.
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| 7. |
- Irenaeus, Sandra, et al.
(författare)
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Local irradiation does not enhance the effect of immunostimulatory AdCD40L gene therapy combined with low dose cyclophosphamide in melanoma patients
- 2017
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Ingår i: Oncotarget. - : Impact Journals, LLC. - 1949-2553. ; 8:45, s. 78573-78587
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: AdCD40L is an immunostimulatory gene therapy under evaluation for advanced melanoma, including ocular melanoma. Herein, we present the final data of a Phase I/IIa trial using AdCD40L alone or in combination with low dose cyclophosphamide +/- radiation therapy.Methods: AdCD40L is a replication-deficient adenovirus carrying the gene for CD40 ligand (CD40L). Twenty-four patients with advanced melanoma were enrolled and treated with AdCD40L monotherapy, or combined with cyclophosphamide +/- single fraction radiotherapy. The patients were monitored for 10 weeks using immunological and radiological evaluations and thereafter for survival.Results: AdCD40L treatment was safe and well tolerated both alone and in combination with cyclophosphamide as well as local radiotherapy. Four out of twenty-four patients had >1 year survival. Addition of cyclophosphamide was beneficial but adding radiotherapy did not further extend survival. High initial plasma levels of IL12 and MIP3b correlated to overall survival, whereas IL8 responses post-treatment correlated negatively with survival. Interestingly, antibody reactions to the virus correlated negatively with post IL6 and pre IL1b levels in blood.Conclusions: AdCD40L was safely administered to patients and effect was improved by cyclophosphamide but not by radiotherapy. Immune activation profile at baseline may predict responders better than shortly after treatment.
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| 8. |
- Jespersen, Henrik, et al.
(författare)
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Concomitant use of pembrolizumab and entinostat in adult patients with metastatic uveal melanoma (PEMDAC study): protocol for a multicenter phase II open label study.
- 2019
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Ingår i: BMC cancer. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1471-2407. ; 19:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- While recent years have seen a revolution in the treatment of metastatic cutaneous melanoma, no treatment has yet been able to demonstrate any prolonged survival in metastatic uveal melanoma. Thus, metastatic uveal melanoma remains a disease with an urgent unmet medical need. Reports of treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors have thus far been disappointing. Based on animal experiments, it is reasonable to hypothesize that the effect of immunotherapy may be augmented by epigenetic therapy. Proposed mechanisms include enhanced expression of HLA class I and cancer antigens on cancer cells, as well as suppression of myeloid suppressor cells.The PEMDAC study is a multicenter, open label phase II study assessing the efficacy of concomitant use of the PD1 inhibitor pembrolizumab and the class I HDAC inhibitor entinostat in adult patients with metastatic uveal melanoma. Primary endpoint is objective response rate. Eligible patients have histologically confirmed metastatic uveal melanoma, ECOG performance status 0-1, measurable disease as per RECIST 1.1 and may have received any number of prior therapies, with the exception of anticancer immunotherapy. Twenty nine patients will be enrolled. Patients receive pembrolizumab 200mg intravenously every third week in combination with entinostat 5mg orally once weekly. Treatment will continue until progression of disease or intolerable toxicity or for a maximum of 24months.The PEMDAC study is the first trial to assess whether the addition of an HDAC inhibitor to anti-PD1 therapy can yield objective anti-tumoral responses in metastatic UM.ClinicalTrials.gov registration number: NCT02697630 . (Registered 3 March 2016). EudraCT registration number: 2016-002114-50.
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| 9. |
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| 10. |
- Loskog, Angelica, et al.
(författare)
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Immunostimulatory AdCD40L gene therapy combined with low-dose cyclophosphamide in metastatic melanoma patients
- 2016
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Ingår i: British Journal of Cancer. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0007-0920 .- 1532-1827. ; 114:8, s. 872-880
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Current approaches for treating metastatic malignant melanoma (MM) are not effective enough and are associated with serious adverse events. Due to its immunogenicity, melanoma is an attractive target for immunostimulating therapy. In this phase I/IIa study, local AdCD40L immunostimulatory gene therapy was evaluated in patients with MM.METHODS: AdCD40L is an adenovirus carrying the gene for CD40 ligand. Patients that failed standard treatments were enrolled. Six patients received four weekly intratumoral AdCD40L injections. Next, nine patients received low-dose cyclophosphamide conditioning before the first and fourth AdCD40L injection. The blood samples were collected at multiple time points for chemistry, haematology and immunology evaluations. Radiology was performed at enrolment and repeated twice after the treatment.RESULTS: AdCD40L was safe with mild transient reactions. No objective responses were recorded by MRI, however, local and distant responses were seen on FDG-PET. The overall survival at 6 months was significantly better when cyclophosphamide was added to AdCD40L. The patients with the best survival developed the highest levels of activated T cells and experienced a pronounced decrease of intratumoral IL8.CONCLUSIONS: AdCD40L therapy for MM was well tolerated. Local and distant responses along with better survival in the low-dose cyclophosphamide group are encouraging.
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