P02.05 Investigation of a syngeneic a-PD-1 antibody to treat murine 4T1 mammary carcinoma

Abstract

BackgroundMany cancers acquire mechanisms to evade immunosurveillance by activating immune checkpoint pathways, which suppress the antitumor immune responses. Monoclonal antibodies (ab’s) targeting immune checkpoints, such as CTLA-4 and PD-1, have shown excellent results in several cancers and are currently being investigated in clinical trials for various malignancies. The clinically tested a-CTLA-4 (Ipilimumab) and a-PD-1 (Nivolumab and Pembrolizumab) ab’s are fully human or humanized ab’s, respectively. However, most studies conducted in mice utilize a xenogeneic a-PD-1 ab originating from rat, IgG2a RMP1-14 clone. This has been proposed to cause adverse effects in the commonly used 4T1 mammary carcinoma model of triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). Repeated administration of xenogeneic a-PD-1 ab’s in this model results in fatal hypersensitivity reactions in tumor bearing mice, and unlike human TNBC, the 4T1 cell line is generally poorly responsive to immune checkpoint inhibitors. Recently, a semi-syngeneic recombinant a-PD-1 ab has been developed by transferring the variable regions of RMP1-14 onto a murine IgG1e3 constant region.Materials and MethodsTesting xenogeneic and semi-syngeneic a-PD-1 ab with and without a-CTLA-4 ab in BALB/c mice carrying 4T1 luciferase positive tumors.ResultsIn this study, we compared a semi-syngeneic recombinant a-PD-1 ab to the original xenogeneic RMP1-14 clone for treatment of luciferase positive 4T1 carcinomas. Surprisingly, the semi-syngeneic a-PD-1 ab was not able to circumvent the fatal hypersensitivity reactions. Still, the combination therapy of a-CTLA-4 and the semi-syngeneic a-PD-1 ab significantly reduced tumor volume in 4T1-luciferase tumor bearing mice compared to isotype control-treated mice already from day 16 post tumor inoculation (day 8 post treatment-initiation). In contrast, xenogeneic a-PD-1/a-CTLA-4 treated mice did not show significant difference from the control group until 24 days post tumor inoculation and never to the same degree. Furthermore, analysis of the T cell responses towards the murine tumor-associated antigen AH-1, revealed that treatment with syngeneic a-PD-1/a-CTLA-4 ab gave a significantly stronger CD8+ T cell response over both control mice and mice treated with xenogeneic a-PD-1/a-CTLA-4 ab.ConclusionsThese studies indicate that the semi-syngeneic a-PD-1 IgG1e3 ab might be a more efficient and translatable a-PD-1 ab for preclinical in vivo studies, which is important for the future investigation of immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy.Disclosure InformationI. Skandorff Pedersen: A. Employment (full or part-time); Significant; InProTher Aps. K. Orfin: A. Employment (full or part-time); Significant; InProTher Aps. K.N. Nielsen: A. Employment (full or part-time); Significant; InProTher Aps. P.J. Holst: A. Employment (full or part-time); Significant; InProTher Aps. E. Ownership Interest (stock, stock options, patent or other intellectual property); Significant; InProTher Aps.