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Hovhannisyan L, Riether C, Aebersold DM, Medová M, Zimmer Y. CAR T cell-based immunotherapy and radiation therapy: potential, promises and risks. Mol Cancer 2023; 22:82. [PMID: 37173782 PMCID: PMC10176707 DOI: 10.1186/s12943-023-01775-1] [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: 01/16/2023] [Accepted: 04/11/2023] [Indexed: 05/15/2023] Open
Abstract
CAR T cell-based therapies have revolutionized the treatment of hematological malignancies such as leukemia and lymphoma within the last years. In contrast to the success in hematological cancers, the treatment of solid tumors with CAR T cells is still a major challenge in the field and attempts to overcome these hurdles have not been successful yet. Radiation therapy is used for management of various malignancies for decades and its therapeutic role ranges from local therapy to a priming agent in cancer immunotherapy. Combinations of radiation with immune checkpoint inhibitors have already proven successful in clinical trials. Therefore, a combination of radiation therapy may have the potential to overcome the current limitations of CAR T cell therapy in solid tumor entities. So far, only limited research was conducted in the area of CAR T cells and radiation. In this review we will discuss the potential and risks of such a combination in the treatment of cancer patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lusine Hovhannisyan
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, Freiburgstrasse 8, Bern, 3008, Switzerland
- Department for Biomedical Research, Radiation Oncology, University of Bern, Murtenstrasse 35, Bern, 3008, Switzerland
- Graduate School for Cellular and Biomedical Sciences, University of Bern, Bern, 3010, Switzerland
| | - Carsten Riether
- Department of Medical Oncology, Inselspital, University Hospital and University of Bern, Bern, 3010, Switzerland
| | - Daniel M Aebersold
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, Freiburgstrasse 8, Bern, 3008, Switzerland
- Department for Biomedical Research, Radiation Oncology, University of Bern, Murtenstrasse 35, Bern, 3008, Switzerland
| | - Michaela Medová
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, Freiburgstrasse 8, Bern, 3008, Switzerland
- Department for Biomedical Research, Radiation Oncology, University of Bern, Murtenstrasse 35, Bern, 3008, Switzerland
| | - Yitzhak Zimmer
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, Freiburgstrasse 8, Bern, 3008, Switzerland.
- Department for Biomedical Research, Radiation Oncology, University of Bern, Murtenstrasse 35, Bern, 3008, Switzerland.
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Stamova S, Ott-Rötzer B, Smetak H, Schäffler K, Eder R, Fink I, Hoffmann P, Reichert TE, Beckhove P, Spanier G. Characterization and ex vivo expansion of rare in situ cytokine secreting T cell populations from tumor tissue and blood of oral squamous cell carcinoma patients. J Immunol Methods 2021; 496:113086. [PMID: 34146580 DOI: 10.1016/j.jim.2021.113086] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2021] [Revised: 06/14/2021] [Accepted: 06/14/2021] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Rare subpopulations of tumor antigen-reactive memory T cells, which actively secrete type-1 effector cytokines, particularly TNF-α in situ, possess anti-tumor activity and prognostic relevance. These cells are relevant for cancer immunotherapy; however, their low frequencies make them difficult to study and novel protocols for their culture and expansion ex vivo are needed. Here, we studied the presence of T cells secreting type-1 cytokines (Cy+T cells) in the blood and tumors of 24 patients with oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC) and explored possibilities for their isolation and expansion. More than 90% of OSCC patients contained enriched numbers Cy+T cells in the blood and tumors compared to healthy donors in which these were hardly detectable. The majority of TNF-α+T cells were CD4+ T helper cells while IFN-γ+TIL were predominantly CD8+. Cy+T helper cells in the blood were early-differentiated memory T cells while Cy+TIL and Cy+CD8+T cells showed advanced-differentiated memory T cell phenotypes. We explored different conditions for their in vitro culture and found that Cy+T cells can be efficiently expanded in vitro to similar levels as Cy-T cells and after expansion maintained their TNF-α secreting capacity. However, for optimal expansion they required specific culture conditions to support the maintenance of stem-like and central memory T cell phenotype. In conclusion, we show that Cy+T cells are enriched in OSCC patients and report a novel cell culture protocol optimized to specifically expand and functionally maintain these cells for further functional characterization or for their exploitation in immunotherapy of OSCC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Slava Stamova
- Regensburg Center for Interventional Immunology (RCI), University Hospital Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
| | - Birgitta Ott-Rötzer
- Regensburg Center for Interventional Immunology (RCI), University Hospital Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
| | - Heiko Smetak
- Regensburg Center for Interventional Immunology (RCI), University Hospital Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
| | - Katharina Schäffler
- Regensburg Center for Interventional Immunology (RCI), University Hospital Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
| | - Rüdiger Eder
- Department of Internal Medicine III, University Hospital Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
| | - Irina Fink
- Regensburg Center for Interventional Immunology (RCI), University Hospital Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
| | - Petra Hoffmann
- Regensburg Center for Interventional Immunology (RCI), University Hospital Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany; Department of Internal Medicine III, University Hospital Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
| | - Torsten E Reichert
- Department of Cranio-Maxillofacial Surgery, University Hospital Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
| | - Philipp Beckhove
- Regensburg Center for Interventional Immunology (RCI), University Hospital Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany; Department of Internal Medicine III, University Hospital Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany.
| | - Gerrit Spanier
- Department of Cranio-Maxillofacial Surgery, University Hospital Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
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