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McCarthy PM, Valdera FA, Smolinsky TR, Adams AM, O’Shea AE, Thomas KK, Van Decar S, Carpenter EL, Tiwari A, Myers JW, Hale DF, Vreeland TJ, Peoples GE, Stojadinovic A, Clifton GT. Tumor infiltrating lymphocytes as an endpoint in cancer vaccine trials. Front Immunol 2023; 14:1090533. [PMID: 36960052 PMCID: PMC10029975 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1090533] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2022] [Accepted: 02/14/2023] [Indexed: 03/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Checkpoint inhibitors have invigorated cancer immunotherapy research, including cancer vaccination. Classic early phase trial design and endpoints used in developing chemotherapy are not suited for evaluating all forms of cancer treatment. Peripheral T cell response dynamics have demonstrated inconsistency in assessing the efficacy of cancer vaccination. Tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), reflect the local tumor microenvironment and may prove a superior endpoint in cancer vaccination trials. Cancer vaccines may also promote success in combination immunotherapy treatment of weakly immunogenic tumors. This review explores the impact of TILs as an endpoint for cancer vaccination in multiple malignancies, summarizes the current literature regarding TILs analysis, and discusses the challenges of providing validity and a standardized implementation of this approach.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick M. McCarthy
- Department of Surgery, Brooke Army Medical Center, Ft. Sam Houston, TX, United States
| | - Franklin A. Valdera
- Department of Surgery, Brooke Army Medical Center, Ft. Sam Houston, TX, United States
| | - Todd R. Smolinsky
- Department of Surgery, Brooke Army Medical Center, Ft. Sam Houston, TX, United States
- *Correspondence: Todd R. Smolinsky, ; Elizabeth L. Carpenter,
| | - Alexandra M. Adams
- Department of Surgery, Brooke Army Medical Center, Ft. Sam Houston, TX, United States
| | - Anne E. O’Shea
- Department of Surgery, Brooke Army Medical Center, Ft. Sam Houston, TX, United States
| | - Katryna K. Thomas
- Department of Surgery, Brooke Army Medical Center, Ft. Sam Houston, TX, United States
| | - Spencer Van Decar
- Department of Surgery, Brooke Army Medical Center, Ft. Sam Houston, TX, United States
| | - Elizabeth L. Carpenter
- Department of Surgery, Brooke Army Medical Center, Ft. Sam Houston, TX, United States
- *Correspondence: Todd R. Smolinsky, ; Elizabeth L. Carpenter,
| | - Ankur Tiwari
- Department of Surgery, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, TX, United States
| | - John W. Myers
- Department of Surgery, Madigan Army Medical Center, Ft. Lewis, WA, United States
| | - Diane F. Hale
- Department of Surgery, Brooke Army Medical Center, Ft. Sam Houston, TX, United States
| | - Timothy J. Vreeland
- Department of Surgery, Brooke Army Medical Center, Ft. Sam Houston, TX, United States
| | | | | | - Guy T. Clifton
- Department of Surgery, Brooke Army Medical Center, Ft. Sam Houston, TX, United States
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Abdul Sater H, Marté JL, Donahue RN, Walter-Rodriguez B, Heery CR, Steinberg SM, Cordes LM, Chun G, Karzai F, Bilusic M, Harmon SA, Turkbey IB, Choyke PL, Schlom J, Dahut WL, Madan RA, Pinto PA, Gulley JL. Neoadjuvant PROSTVAC prior to radical prostatectomy enhances T-cell infiltration into the tumor immune microenvironment in men with prostate cancer. J Immunother Cancer 2021; 8:jitc-2020-000655. [PMID: 32269146 PMCID: PMC7174144 DOI: 10.1136/jitc-2020-000655] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/18/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Clinical trials have shown the ability of therapeutic vaccines to generate immune responses to tumor-associated antigens (TAAs). What is relatively less known is if this translates into immune-cell (IC) infiltration into the tumor microenvironment. This study examined whether neoadjuvant prostate-specific antigen (PSA)-targeted vaccination with PROSTVAC could induce T-cell immunity, particularly at the tumor site. Methods An open-label, phase II study of neoadjuvant PROSTVAC vaccine enrolled 27 patients with localized prostate cancer awaiting radical prostatectomy (RP). We evaluated increases in CD4 and CD8 T-cell infiltrates (RP tissue vs baseline biopsies) using a six-color multiplex immunofluorescence Opal method. Antigen-specific responses were assessed by intracellular cytokine staining after in vitro stimulation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells with overlapping 15-mer peptide pools encoding the TAAs PSA, brachyury and MUC-1. Results Of 27 vaccinated patients, 26 had matched prevaccination (biopsy) and postvaccination (RP) prostate samples available for non-compartmentalized analysis (NCA) and compartmentalized analysis (CA). Tumor CD4 T-cell infiltrates were significantly increased in postvaccination RP specimens compared with baseline biopsies by NCA (median 176/mm² vs 152/mm²; IQR 136–317/mm² vs 69–284/mm²; p=0.0249; median ratio 1.20; IQR 0.64–2.25). By CA, an increase in both CD4 T-cell infiltrates at the tumor infiltrative margin (median 198/mm² vs 151/mm²; IQR 123–500/mm² vs 85–256/mm²; p=0.042; median ratio 1.44; IQR 0.59–4.17) and in CD8 T-cell infiltrates at the tumor core (median 140/mm² vs 105/mm²; IQR 91–175/mm² vs 83–163/mm²; p=0.036; median ratio 1.25; IQR 0.88–2.09) were noted in postvaccination RP specimens compared with baseline biopsies. A total of 13/25 patients (52%) developed peripheral T-cell responses to any of the three tested TAAs (non-neoantigens); five of these had responses to more than one antigen of the three evaluated. Conclusion Neoadjuvant PROSTVAC can induce both tumor immune response and peripheral immune response. Trial registration number NCT02153918.
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Affiliation(s)
- Houssein Abdul Sater
- Genitourinary Malignancies Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Jennifer L Marté
- Genitourinary Malignancies Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Renee N Donahue
- Laboratory of Tumor Immunology and Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Beatriz Walter-Rodriguez
- Laboratory of Pathology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | | | - Seth M Steinberg
- Biostatistics and Data Management Section, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Lisa M Cordes
- Genitourinary Malignancies Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Guinevere Chun
- Genitourinary Malignancies Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Fatima Karzai
- Genitourinary Malignancies Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Marijo Bilusic
- Genitourinary Malignancies Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Stephanie A Harmon
- Molecular Imaging Program, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.,Clinical Research Directorate, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, Frederick, Maryland, USA
| | - Ismail Baris Turkbey
- Molecular Imaging Program, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Peter L Choyke
- Molecular Imaging Program, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Jeffrey Schlom
- Laboratory of Tumor Immunology and Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - William L Dahut
- Genitourinary Malignancies Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Ravi A Madan
- Genitourinary Malignancies Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Peter A Pinto
- Urologic Oncology Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - James L Gulley
- Genitourinary Malignancies Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
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Strauss J, Madan RA. Therapeutic vaccines for prostate cancer: recent advances and future directions. Expert Rev Vaccines 2016; 15:907-14. [PMID: 26889831 DOI: 10.1586/14760584.2016.1155988] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
In recent years, therapeutic cancer vaccines have emerged as a viable and promising treatment for prostate cancer. Beyond sipuleucel-T, phase III trials are evaluating multiple vaccine platforms in men with this disease. Growing data evaluating vaccine therapies suggests that these agents are more effective in patients with more indolent and possibly also earlier stages of disease. In addition, a wealth of preclinical data has shown that traditional prostate cancer treatments including anti androgens, cytotoxic and radiation therapies may provide immunologic synergy when given in combination with vaccine platforms. Building off this data, numerous clinical trials are evaluating therapeutic cancer vaccines in early stage prostate cancer and also in combination with traditional prostate cancer therapies. In addition, in order to optimize immune responses, ongoing trials are evaluating vaccines in combination with immune checkpoint inhibitors. Preliminary data from these trials have been promising and are offering an exciting glimpse at the future of immunotherapy for this disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julius Strauss
- a Genitourinary Malignancies Branch, Center for Cancer Research , National Cancer Institute , Bethesda , MD , USA
| | - Ravi A Madan
- a Genitourinary Malignancies Branch, Center for Cancer Research , National Cancer Institute , Bethesda , MD , USA
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Surolia I, Gulley J, Madan RA. Recent advances in the use of therapeutic cancer vaccines in genitourinary malignancies. Expert Opin Biol Ther 2014; 14:1769-81. [PMID: 25212872 PMCID: PMC8262094 DOI: 10.1517/14712598.2014.955010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Despite a recent increase in US FDA-approved treatments, genitourinary malignancies remain a source of significant morbidity and mortality. One focus of research is the use of therapeutic cancer vaccines in these diseases, and a significant body of clinical trial experience now exists for refining vaccine strategies to enhance antitumor efficacy and develop immune-based combination regimens. AREAS COVERED In recent years, clinical data from multiple trials in genitourinary malignancies have enhanced our understanding of the potential for immunotherapy in these cancers. There are also emerging clinical strategies that combine cancer vaccines with chemotherapy, radiation, androgen-deprivation therapy and immune checkpoint inhibitors. This review is based on a search of relevant literature for data presented over the past 5 years from clinical trials of cancer vaccines in prostate, bladder and renal carcinomas. EXPERT OPINION In the coming years, clinical trials informed by decades of preclinical data and emerging clinical data will help to define the role of immunotherapy in genitourinary malignancies. Combination strategies that capitalize on the immune properties of standard treatments will bring greater clinical benefits, and immune-based combinations will likely be moved to the neoadjuvant setting, where they may have optimal clinical impact.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ira Surolia
- National Institute of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - James Gulley
- National Institute of Health, Laboratory of Tumor Immunology and Biology, 10 Center Drive, MSC-1750, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Ravi A Madan
- National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Laboratory of Tumor Immunology and Biology, Building 10, 8B09, 10 Center Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
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