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Kohli K, Yao L, Nowicki TS, Zhang S, Black RG, Schroeder BA, Farrar EA, Cao J, Sloan H, Stief D, Cranmer LD, Wagner MJ, Hawkins DS, Pillarisetty VG, Ribas A, Campbell J, Pierce RH, Kim EY, Jones RL, Riddell SR, Yee C, Pollack SM. IL-15 mediated expansion of rare durable memory T cells following adoptive cellular therapy. J Immunother Cancer 2021; 9:jitc-2020-002232. [PMID: 33963013 PMCID: PMC8108691 DOI: 10.1136/jitc-2020-002232] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Synovial sarcoma (SS) and myxoid/round cell liposarcoma (MRCL) are ideal solid tumors for the development of adoptive cellular therapy (ACT) targeting NY-ESO-1, as a high frequency of tumors homogeneously express this cancer-testes antigen. Data from early phase clinical trials have shown antitumor activity after the adoptive transfer of NY-ESO-1–specific T cells. In these studies, persistence of NY-ESO-1 specific T cells is highly correlated with response to ACT, but patients often continue to have detectable transferred cells in their peripheral blood following progression. Method We performed a phase I clinical trial evaluating the safety of NY-ESO-1–specific endogenous T cells (ETC) following cyclophosphamide conditioning. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from treated patients were evaluated by flow cytometry and gene expression analysis as well as through ex vivo culture assays with and without IL-15. Results Four patients were treated in a cohort using ETC targeting NY-ESO-1 following cyclophosphamide conditioning. Treatment was well tolerated without significant toxicity, but all patients ultimately had disease progression. In two of four patients, we obtained post-treatment tumor tissue and in both, NY-ESO-1 antigen was retained despite clear detectable persisting NY-ESO-1–specific T cells in the peripheral blood. Despite a memory phenotype, these persisting cells lacked markers of proliferation or activation. However, in ex vivo culture assays, they could be induced to proliferate and kill tumor using IL-15. These results were also seen in PBMCs from two patients who received gene-engineered T-cell receptor–based products at other centers. Conclusions ETC targeting NY-ESO-1 with single-agent cyclophosphamide alone conditioning was well tolerated in patients with SS and those with MRCL. IL-15 can induce proliferation and activity in persisting NY-ESO-1–specific T cells even in patients with disease progression following ACT. These results support future work evaluating whether IL-15 could be incorporated into ACT trials post-infusion or at the time of progression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karan Kohli
- Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Clinical Research Division, Seattle, WA, USA.,Division of Oncology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.,Department of Surgery, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Lu Yao
- Poseida Therapeutics, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Theodore Scott Nowicki
- Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Shihong Zhang
- Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Clinical Research Division, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Ralph Graeme Black
- Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Clinical Research Division, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Brett A Schroeder
- Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Clinical Research Division, Seattle, WA, USA.,Division of Oncology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.,Department of Internal Medicine, Virginia Mason Medical Center, Seattle, WA, USA
| | | | - Jianhong Cao
- Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Clinical Research Division, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Heather Sloan
- Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Clinical Research Division, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Dawn Stief
- Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Clinical Research Division, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Lee D Cranmer
- Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Clinical Research Division, Seattle, WA, USA.,Division of Oncology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Michael J Wagner
- Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Clinical Research Division, Seattle, WA, USA.,Division of Oncology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Douglas S Hawkins
- Division of Hematology and Oncology, Seattle Children's Hospital, Seattle, WA, USA
| | | | - Antoni Ribas
- Division Hematology and Oncology, University of California, Los Angeles, UK
| | - Jean Campbell
- Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Clinical Research Division, Seattle, WA, USA.,Sensei Biotherapeutics, Gaithersburg, Boston, MD, USA
| | - Robert H Pierce
- Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Clinical Research Division, Seattle, WA, USA.,Sensei Biotherapeutics, Gaithersburg, Boston, MD, USA
| | - Edward Y Kim
- Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Robin L Jones
- Sarcoma, Royal Marsden Hospital and Institute of Cancer Research, London, UK
| | - Stanley R Riddell
- Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Clinical Research Division, Seattle, WA, USA.,Department of Surgery, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.,Lyell Immunopharma, Seattle, WA, USA
| | | | - Seth M Pollack
- Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Clinical Research Division, Seattle, WA, USA .,Department of Surgery, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.,Division of Oncology, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA
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