The immune-modulating effects of radiation therapy have gained considerable interest recently and there have been multiple reports of synergy between radiation and immunotherapy. However, additional pre-clinical studies are needed to demonstrate the antigen-specific nature of radiation-induced immune responses and elucidate potential mechanisms of synergy with immunotherapy. Here we demonstrate the ability of stereotactic radiotherapy to induce endogenous antigen-specific immune responses when combined with anti-PD-1 checkpoint blockade immunotherapy. Using the small animal radiation research platform (SARRP), image-guided stereotactic radiotherapy delivered to B16-OVA melanoma or 4T1-HA breast carcinoma tumors resulted in the development of antigen-specific T and B cell-mediated immune responses. These immune-stimulating effects of radiotherapy were significantly increased when combined with either anti-PD-1 therapy or regulatory T cell (Treg) depletion, resulting in improved local tumor control. Phenotypic analyses of antigen-specific CD8 T cells revealed that radiotherapy increased the percentage of antigen-experienced T cells and effector memory T cells. Mechanistically we found that radiotherapy up-regulates tumor-associated antigen-MHC complexes, enhances antigen cross-presentation in the draining lymph node, and increased T-cell infiltration into tumors. These findings demonstrate the ability of radiotherapy to prime an endogenous antigen-specific immune response and provide additional mechanistic rationale for combining radiation with PD-1 blockade in the clinic.

Background Primary prostate cancers are infiltrated with PD-1 expressing CD8+ T cells. However, in early clinical trials, men with mCRPC did not respond to PD-1 blockade as a monotherapy. One explanation for this unresponsiveness could be that prostate tumors generally do not express PD-L1, the primary ligand for PD-1. However, lack of PD-L1 expression in prostate cancer would be surprising, given that PTEN loss is relatively common in prostate cancer and several studies have shown that PTEN loss correlates with PD-L1 up-regulation - constituting a mechanism of innate immune resistance. This study tested whether prostate cancer cells were capable of expressing PD-L1, and whether the rare PD-L1 expression that occurs in human specimens correlates with PTEN loss. Methods Human prostate cancer cell lines were evaluated for PD-L1 expression and loss of PTEN by flow cytometry and western blotting, respectively. Immunohistochemical (IHC) staining for PTEN was correlated with PD-L1 IHC using a series of resected human prostate cancer samples. Results In vitro, many prostate cancer cell lines up-regulated PD-L1 expression in response to inflammatory cytokines, consistent with adaptive immune resistance. In these cell lines, no association between PTEN loss and PD-L1 expression was apparent. In primary prostate tumors, PD-L1 expression was rare, and was not associated with PTEN loss. Conclusions These studies show that some prostate cancer cell lines are capable of expressing PD-L1. However, in human prostate cancer, PTEN loss is not associated with PD-L1 expression, arguing against innate immune resistance as a mechanism that mitigates anti-tumor immune responses in this disease.

Summary Homeostatic programs balance immune protection and self-tolerance. Such mechanisms likely impact autoimmunity and tumor formation, respectively. How homeostasis is maintained and impacts tumor surveillance is unknown. Here, we find that different immune mononuclear phagocytes share a conserved steady-state program during differentiation and entry into healthy tissue. IFNγ is necessary and sufficient to induce this program, revealing a key instructive role. Remarkably, homeostatic and IFNγ-dependent programs enrich across primary human tumors, including melanoma, and stratify survival. Single-cell RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) reveals enrichment of homeostatic modules in monocytes and DCs from human metastatic melanoma. Suppressor-of-cytokine-2 (SOCS2) protein, a conserved program transcript, is expressed by mononuclear phagocytes infiltrating primary melanoma and is induced by IFNγ. SOCS2 limits adaptive anti-tumoral immunity and DC-based priming of T cells in vivo, indicating a critical regulatory role. These findings link immune homeostasis to key determinants of anti-tumoral immunity and escape, revealing co-opting of tissue-specific immune development in the tumor microenvironment.