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Henry KE, Mack KN, Nagle VL, Cornejo M, Michel AO, Fox IL, Davydova M, Dilling TR, Pillarsetty N, Lewis JS. ERK Inhibition Improves Anti-PD-L1 Immune Checkpoint Blockade in Preclinical Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma. Mol Cancer Ther 2021; 20:2026-2034. [PMID: 34349003 PMCID: PMC8492510 DOI: 10.1158/1535-7163.mct-20-1112] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2020] [Revised: 04/01/2021] [Accepted: 06/14/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) do not benefit from immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) along the PD-1/PD-L1 axis. Variable PD-L1 expression in PDAC indicates a potential access issue of PD-L1-targeted therapy. To monitor target engagement of PD-L1-targeted therapy, we generated a PD-L1-targeted PET tracer labeled with zirconium-89 (89Zr). As the MAPK signaling pathway (MEK and ERK) is known to modulate PD-L1 expression in other tumor types, we used [89Zr]Zr-DFO-anti-PD-L1 as a tool to noninvasively assess whether manipulation of the MAPK signaling cascade could be leveraged to modulate PD-L1 expression and thereby immunotherapeutic outcomes in PDAC. In this study, we observed that the inhibition of MEK or ERK is sufficient to increase PD-L1 expression, which we hypothesized could be leveraged for anti-PD-L1 immune checkpoint therapy. We found that the combination of ERK inhibition and anti-PD-L1 therapy corresponded with a significant improvement of overall survival in a syngeneic mouse model of PDAC. Furthermore, IHC analysis indicates that the survival benefit may be CD8+ T-cell mediated. The therapeutic and molecular imaging tool kit developed could be exploited to better structure clinical trials and address the therapeutic gaps in challenging malignancies such as PDAC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kelly E Henry
- Department of Radiology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York.
| | - Kyeara N Mack
- Department of Radiology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York
- Molecular Pharmacology Program, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York
| | - Veronica L Nagle
- Department of Radiology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York
- Molecular Pharmacology Program, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York
| | - Mike Cornejo
- Department of Radiology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York
| | - Adam O Michel
- Laboratory for Comparative Pathology, Memorial Sloan Kettering, Weill Cornell Medicine & The Rockefeller University, New York, New York
| | - Ian L Fox
- Department of Radiology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York
| | - Maria Davydova
- Department of Radiology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York
| | - Thomas R Dilling
- Department of Radiology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York
| | | | - Jason S Lewis
- Department of Radiology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York.
- Molecular Pharmacology Program, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York
- Departments of Pharmacology and Radiology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York
- Radiochemistry and Molecular Imaging Probes Core, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York
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