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Rayan M, Sayed TS, Hussein OJ, Therachiyil L, Maayah ZH, Maccalli C, Uddin S, Prehn JHM, Korashy HM. Unlocking the secrets: exploring the influence of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor and microbiome on cancer development. Cell Mol Biol Lett 2024; 29:33. [PMID: 38448800 PMCID: PMC10918910 DOI: 10.1186/s11658-024-00538-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2023] [Accepted: 01/17/2024] [Indexed: 03/08/2024] Open
Abstract
Gut microbiota regulates various aspects of human physiology by producing metabolites, metabolizing enzymes, and toxins. Many studies have linked microbiota with human health and altered microbiome configurations with the occurrence of several diseases, including cancer. Accumulating evidence suggests that the microbiome can influence the initiation and progression of several cancers. Moreover, some microbiotas of the gut and oral cavity have been reported to infect tumors, initiate metastasis, and promote the spread of cancer to distant organs, thereby influencing the clinical outcome of cancer patients. The gut microbiome has recently been reported to interact with environmental factors such as diet and exposure to environmental toxicants. Exposure to environmental pollutants such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) induces a shift in the gut microbiome metabolic pathways, favoring a proinflammatory microenvironment. In addition, other studies have also correlated cancer incidence with exposure to PAHs. PAHs are known to induce organ carcinogenesis through activating a ligand-activated transcriptional factor termed the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), which metabolizes PAHs to highly reactive carcinogenic intermediates. However, the crosstalk between AhR and the microbiome in mediating carcinogenesis is poorly reviewed. This review aims to discuss the role of exposure to environmental pollutants and activation of AhR on microbiome-associated cancer progression and explore the underlying molecular mechanisms involved in cancer development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Menatallah Rayan
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, QU Health, Qatar University, P. O. Box 2713, Doha, Qatar
- Department of Physiology and Medical Physics, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin 2, Ireland
| | - Tahseen S Sayed
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, QU Health, Qatar University, P. O. Box 2713, Doha, Qatar
| | - Ola J Hussein
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, QU Health, Qatar University, P. O. Box 2713, Doha, Qatar
| | - Lubna Therachiyil
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, QU Health, Qatar University, P. O. Box 2713, Doha, Qatar
- Translational Research Institute, Academic Health System, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar
| | - Zaid H Maayah
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, QU Health, Qatar University, P. O. Box 2713, Doha, Qatar
| | | | - Shahab Uddin
- Translational Research Institute, Academic Health System, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar
- Dermatology Institute, Academic Health System, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar
| | - Jochen H M Prehn
- Department of Physiology and Medical Physics, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin 2, Ireland
- RCSI Centre for Systems Medicine, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin 2, Ireland
| | - Hesham M Korashy
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, QU Health, Qatar University, P. O. Box 2713, Doha, Qatar.
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Cavazza A, Hendel A, Bak RO, Rio P, Güell M, Lainšček D, Arechavala-Gomeza V, Peng L, Hapil FZ, Harvey J, Ortega FG, Gonzalez-Martinez C, Lederer CW, Mikkelsen K, Gasiunas G, Kalter N, Gonçalves MA, Petersen J, Garanto A, Montoliu L, Maresca M, Seemann SE, Gorodkin J, Mazini L, Sanchez R, Rodriguez-Madoz JR, Maldonado-Pérez N, Laura T, Schmueck-Henneresse M, Maccalli C, Grünewald J, Carmona G, Kachamakova-Trojanowska N, Miccio A, Martin F, Turchiano G, Cathomen T, Luo Y, Tsai SQ, Benabdellah K. Progress and harmonization of gene editing to treat human diseases: Proceeding of COST Action CA21113 GenE-HumDi. Mol Ther Nucleic Acids 2023; 34:102066. [PMID: 38034032 PMCID: PMC10685310 DOI: 10.1016/j.omtn.2023.102066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/02/2023]
Abstract
The European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) is an intergovernmental organization dedicated to funding and coordinating scientific and technological research in Europe, fostering collaboration among researchers and institutions across countries. Recently, COST Action funded the "Genome Editing to treat Human Diseases" (GenE-HumDi) network, uniting various stakeholders such as pharmaceutical companies, academic institutions, regulatory agencies, biotech firms, and patient advocacy groups. GenE-HumDi's primary objective is to expedite the application of genome editing for therapeutic purposes in treating human diseases. To achieve this goal, GenE-HumDi is organized in several working groups, each focusing on specific aspects. These groups aim to enhance genome editing technologies, assess delivery systems, address safety concerns, promote clinical translation, and develop regulatory guidelines. The network seeks to establish standard procedures and guidelines for these areas to standardize scientific practices and facilitate knowledge sharing. Furthermore, GenE-HumDi aims to communicate its findings to the public in accessible yet rigorous language, emphasizing genome editing's potential to revolutionize the treatment of many human diseases. The inaugural GenE-HumDi meeting, held in Granada, Spain, in March 2023, featured presentations from experts in the field, discussing recent breakthroughs in delivery methods, safety measures, clinical translation, and regulatory aspects related to gene editing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessia Cavazza
- Infection, Immunity and Inflammation Research and Teaching Department, Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, University College London, WC1N 1EH London, UK
| | - Ayal Hendel
- Institute of Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials, The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 52900, Israel
| | - Rasmus O. Bak
- Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - Paula Rio
- Hematopoietic Innovative Therapies Division, Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas Medioambientales y Tecnológicas and Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Raras (CIEMAT/CIBERER), 28040 Madrid, Spain
- Advanced Therapies Unit, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Fundación Jiménez Díaz (IIS-FJD, UAM), 28040 Madrid, Spain
| | - Marc Güell
- Department of Medicine and Life Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
- Integra Therapeutics S.L., Barcelona, Spain
| | - Duško Lainšček
- Department of Synthetic Biology and Immunology, National Institute of Chemistry, Hajdrihova 19, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Virginia Arechavala-Gomeza
- Nucleic Acid Therapeutics for Rare Disorders (NAT-RD), Biobizkaia Health Research Institute, Barakaldo, Spain
- Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science, Bilbao, Spain
| | - Ling Peng
- Aix Marseille University, CNRS, Centre Interdisciplinaire de Nanoscience de Marseille, UMR 7325, Equipe Labellisée Ligue Contre le Cancer, 13288 Marseille, France
| | - Fatma Zehra Hapil
- Department of Medical Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, Akdeniz University, Antalya, Turkey
| | - Joshua Harvey
- Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Francisco G. Ortega
- GENYO, Centre for Genomics and Oncological Research, Pfizer/University of Granada/Andalusian Regional Government, Avenida de la Ilustración 114, 18016 Granada, Spain
- IBS Granada, Institute of Biomedical Research, Avenida de Madrid 15, 18012 Granada, Spain
| | - Coral Gonzalez-Martinez
- GENYO, Centre for Genomics and Oncological Research, Pfizer/University of Granada/Andalusian Regional Government, Avenida de la Ilustración 114, 18016 Granada, Spain
- IBS Granada, Institute of Biomedical Research, Avenida de Madrid 15, 18012 Granada, Spain
| | - Carsten W. Lederer
- Department of Molecular Genetics Thalassaemia, The Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics, Nicosia, Cyprus
| | - Kasper Mikkelsen
- Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
| | | | - Nechama Kalter
- Institute of Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials, The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 52900, Israel
| | - Manuel A.F.V. Gonçalves
- Department of Cell and Chemical Biology, Leiden University Medical Center, Einthovenweg 20, 2333 ZC Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Julie Petersen
- Steno Diabetes Center Aarhus, Aarhus University Hospital, 8200 Aarhus N, Denmark
| | - Alejandro Garanto
- Department of Pediatrics and Department of Human Genetics, Amalia Children’s Hospital, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Lluis Montoliu
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, National Centre for Biotechnology (CNB-CSIC) and Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER-ISCIII), Madrid, Spain
| | - Marcello Maresca
- Genome Engineering, Discovery Sciences, BioPharmaceuticals R&D Unit, AstraZeneca, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Stefan E. Seemann
- Center for Non-coding RNA in Technology and Health, Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Jan Gorodkin
- Center for Non-coding RNA in Technology and Health, Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Loubna Mazini
- Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Technologic, Medical and Academic Park (TMAP), Marrakech, Morocco
| | - Rosario Sanchez
- GENYO, Centre for Genomics and Oncological Research, Pfizer/University of Granada/Andalusian Regional Government, PTS Granada, Granada, Spain
- Department of Medicinal & Organic Chemistry and Excellence Research Unit of "Chemistry Applied to Biomedicine and the Environment," Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Granada, Campus de Cartuja s/n, Granada, Spain
- Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria de Granada (ibs.GRANADA), Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - Juan R. Rodriguez-Madoz
- Cancer Center Clinica Universidad de Navarra (CCUN), Pamplona, Spain
- Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Navarra (IdiSNA), Pamplona, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Cancer (CIBERONC), Madrid, Spain
| | | | - Torella Laura
- DNA & RNA Medicine Division, Center for Applied Medical Research (CIMA) Universidad de Navarra, 31008 Pamplona, Spain
| | - Michael Schmueck-Henneresse
- Berlin Institute for Health (BIH) at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, BIH Center for Regenerative Therapies (BCRT), Charitéplatz 1, 10117 Berlin, Germany
| | - Cristina Maccalli
- Laboratory of Immune Biological Therapy, Research Branch, Sidra Medicine, PO Box 26999, Doha, Qatar
| | - Julian Grünewald
- Department of Medicine, Cardiology, Angiology, Pneumology, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, TUM School of Medicine and Health, TranslaTUM, MIBE, Munich, Germany
- Center for Organoid Systems, Munich, Germany
| | - Gloria Carmona
- Red Andaluza de diseño y traslación de Terapias Avanzadas-RAdytTA, Fundación Pública Andaluza Progreso y Salud-FPS, Sevilla, España
| | | | - Annarita Miccio
- Imagine Institute, Laboratory of Chromatin and Gene Regulation During Development, Université de Paris Cité, INSERM UMR 1163, 75015 Paris, France
| | - Francisco Martin
- Bioquímica y Biología Molecular III e Immunology Department, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Granada and Department of Genomic Medicine, Pfizer-University of Granada-Andalusian Regional Government Centre for Genomics and Oncological Research (GENYO), PTS, Av. de la Ilustración 114, 18016 Granada, Spain
| | - Giandomenico Turchiano
- Infection, Immunity and Inflammation Research and Teaching Department, Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, University College London, WC1N 1EH London, UK
| | - Toni Cathomen
- Institute for Transfusion Medicine and Gene Therapy, Medical Center-University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
- Medical Faculty, University of Freiburg, 79106 Freiburg, Germany
| | - Yonglun Luo
- Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
- Steno Diabetes Center Aarhus, Aarhus University Hospital, 8200 Aarhus N, Denmark
| | - Shengdar Q. Tsai
- Department of Hematology, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Karim Benabdellah
- Department of Genomic Medicine, Pfizer-University of Granada-Andalusian Regional Government Centre for Genomics and Oncological Research (GENYO), PTS, Av. de la Ilustración 114, 18016 Granada, Spain
| | - on behalf of the COST Action CA21113
- Infection, Immunity and Inflammation Research and Teaching Department, Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, University College London, WC1N 1EH London, UK
- Institute of Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials, The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 52900, Israel
- Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
- Hematopoietic Innovative Therapies Division, Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas Medioambientales y Tecnológicas and Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Raras (CIEMAT/CIBERER), 28040 Madrid, Spain
- Advanced Therapies Unit, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Fundación Jiménez Díaz (IIS-FJD, UAM), 28040 Madrid, Spain
- Department of Medicine and Life Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
- Integra Therapeutics S.L., Barcelona, Spain
- Department of Synthetic Biology and Immunology, National Institute of Chemistry, Hajdrihova 19, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
- Nucleic Acid Therapeutics for Rare Disorders (NAT-RD), Biobizkaia Health Research Institute, Barakaldo, Spain
- Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science, Bilbao, Spain
- Aix Marseille University, CNRS, Centre Interdisciplinaire de Nanoscience de Marseille, UMR 7325, Equipe Labellisée Ligue Contre le Cancer, 13288 Marseille, France
- Department of Medical Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, Akdeniz University, Antalya, Turkey
- Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London, UK
- GENYO, Centre for Genomics and Oncological Research, Pfizer/University of Granada/Andalusian Regional Government, Avenida de la Ilustración 114, 18016 Granada, Spain
- IBS Granada, Institute of Biomedical Research, Avenida de Madrid 15, 18012 Granada, Spain
- Department of Molecular Genetics Thalassaemia, The Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics, Nicosia, Cyprus
- CasZyme, 10224 Vilnius, Lithuania
- Department of Cell and Chemical Biology, Leiden University Medical Center, Einthovenweg 20, 2333 ZC Leiden, the Netherlands
- Department of Pediatrics and Department of Human Genetics, Amalia Children’s Hospital, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, National Centre for Biotechnology (CNB-CSIC) and Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER-ISCIII), Madrid, Spain
- Genome Engineering, Discovery Sciences, BioPharmaceuticals R&D Unit, AstraZeneca, Gothenburg, Sweden
- Center for Non-coding RNA in Technology and Health, Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Technologic, Medical and Academic Park (TMAP), Marrakech, Morocco
- GENYO, Centre for Genomics and Oncological Research, Pfizer/University of Granada/Andalusian Regional Government, PTS Granada, Granada, Spain
- Department of Medicinal & Organic Chemistry and Excellence Research Unit of "Chemistry Applied to Biomedicine and the Environment," Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Granada, Campus de Cartuja s/n, Granada, Spain
- Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria de Granada (ibs.GRANADA), Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
- Cancer Center Clinica Universidad de Navarra (CCUN), Pamplona, Spain
- Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Navarra (IdiSNA), Pamplona, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Cancer (CIBERONC), Madrid, Spain
- DNA & RNA Medicine Division, Center for Applied Medical Research (CIMA) Universidad de Navarra, 31008 Pamplona, Spain
- Berlin Institute for Health (BIH) at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, BIH Center for Regenerative Therapies (BCRT), Charitéplatz 1, 10117 Berlin, Germany
- Laboratory of Immune Biological Therapy, Research Branch, Sidra Medicine, PO Box 26999, Doha, Qatar
- Department of Medicine, Cardiology, Angiology, Pneumology, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, TUM School of Medicine and Health, TranslaTUM, MIBE, Munich, Germany
- Center for Organoid Systems, Munich, Germany
- Red Andaluza de diseño y traslación de Terapias Avanzadas-RAdytTA, Fundación Pública Andaluza Progreso y Salud-FPS, Sevilla, España
- Malopolska Centre of Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University, 30-387 Krakow, Poland
- Imagine Institute, Laboratory of Chromatin and Gene Regulation During Development, Université de Paris Cité, INSERM UMR 1163, 75015 Paris, France
- Bioquímica y Biología Molecular III e Immunology Department, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Granada and Department of Genomic Medicine, Pfizer-University of Granada-Andalusian Regional Government Centre for Genomics and Oncological Research (GENYO), PTS, Av. de la Ilustración 114, 18016 Granada, Spain
- Institute for Transfusion Medicine and Gene Therapy, Medical Center-University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
- Medical Faculty, University of Freiburg, 79106 Freiburg, Germany
- Steno Diabetes Center Aarhus, Aarhus University Hospital, 8200 Aarhus N, Denmark
- Department of Hematology, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
- Department of Genomic Medicine, Pfizer-University of Granada-Andalusian Regional Government Centre for Genomics and Oncological Research (GENYO), PTS, Av. de la Ilustración 114, 18016 Granada, Spain
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3
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Wang Y, Drum DL, Sun R, Zhang Y, Chen F, Sun F, Dal E, Yu L, Jia J, Arya S, Jia L, Fan S, Isakoff SJ, Kehlmann AM, Dotti G, Liu F, Zheng H, Ferrone CR, Taghian AG, DeLeo AB, Ventin M, Cattaneo G, Li Y, Jounaidi Y, Huang P, Maccalli C, Zhang H, Wang C, Yang J, Boland GM, Sadreyev RI, Wong L, Ferrone S, Wang X. Stressed target cancer cells drive nongenetic reprogramming of CAR T cells and solid tumor microenvironment. Nat Commun 2023; 14:5727. [PMID: 37714830 PMCID: PMC10504259 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-41282-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2022] [Accepted: 08/29/2023] [Indexed: 09/17/2023] Open
Abstract
The poor efficacy of chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy (CAR T) for solid tumors is due to insufficient CAR T cell tumor infiltration, in vivo expansion, persistence, and effector function, as well as exhaustion, intrinsic target antigen heterogeneity or antigen loss of target cancer cells, and immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME). Here we describe a broadly applicable nongenetic approach that simultaneously addresses the multiple challenges of CAR T as a therapy for solid tumors. The approach reprograms CAR T cells by exposing them to stressed target cancer cells which have been exposed to the cell stress inducer disulfiram (DSF) and copper (Cu)(DSF/Cu) plus ionizing irradiation (IR). The reprogrammed CAR T cells acquire early memory-like characteristics, potent cytotoxicity, enhanced in vivo expansion, persistence, and decreased exhaustion. Tumors stressed by DSF/Cu and IR also reprogram and reverse the immunosuppressive TME in humanized mice. The reprogrammed CAR T cells, derived from peripheral blood mononuclear cells of healthy donors or metastatic female breast cancer patients, induce robust, sustained memory and curative anti-solid tumor responses in multiple xenograft mouse models, establishing proof of concept for empowering CAR T by stressing tumor as a promising therapy for solid tumors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yufeng Wang
- Division of Gastrointestinal and Oncologic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of General Surgery, Tongji Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
| | - David L Drum
- Division of Gastrointestinal and Oncologic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Ruochuan Sun
- Division of Gastrointestinal and Oncologic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery and General Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China
| | - Yida Zhang
- Division of Gastrointestinal and Oncologic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Feng Chen
- Division of Gastrointestinal and Oncologic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Fengfei Sun
- Division of Gastrointestinal and Oncologic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Emre Dal
- Division of Gastrointestinal and Oncologic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Ling Yu
- Division of Gastrointestinal and Oncologic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Jingyu Jia
- Division of Gastrointestinal and Oncologic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Shahrzad Arya
- Division of Gastrointestinal and Oncologic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Lin Jia
- Division of Gastrointestinal and Oncologic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Song Fan
- Division of Gastrointestinal and Oncologic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Steven J Isakoff
- Termeer Center for Targeted Therapies, Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Allison M Kehlmann
- Termeer Center for Targeted Therapies, Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Gianpietro Dotti
- Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Fubao Liu
- Department of Hepatobiliary & Pancreatic Surgery and Liver Transplantation, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China
| | - Hui Zheng
- Biostatistics Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Cristina R Ferrone
- Department of Surgery, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Alphonse G Taghian
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Albert B DeLeo
- Division of Gastrointestinal and Oncologic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Marco Ventin
- Division of Gastrointestinal and Oncologic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Giulia Cattaneo
- Division of Gastrointestinal and Oncologic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Yongxiang Li
- Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery and General Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China
| | - Youssef Jounaidi
- Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Peigen Huang
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | | | - Hanyu Zhang
- Division of Gastrointestinal and Oncologic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Cheng Wang
- Vincent Center for Reproductive Biology, Vincent Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Jibing Yang
- Center for Comparative Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Genevieve M Boland
- Division of Gastrointestinal and Oncologic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Ruslan I Sadreyev
- Department of Molecular Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - LaiPing Wong
- Department of Molecular Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Soldano Ferrone
- Division of Gastrointestinal and Oncologic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Orthopaedics, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Xinhui Wang
- Division of Gastrointestinal and Oncologic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
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Tluli O, Al-Maadhadi M, Al-Khulaifi AA, Akomolafe AF, Al-Kuwari SY, Al-Khayarin R, Maccalli C, Pedersen S. Exploring the Role of microRNAs in Glioma Progression, Prognosis, and Therapeutic Strategies. Cancers (Basel) 2023; 15:4213. [PMID: 37686489 PMCID: PMC10486509 DOI: 10.3390/cancers15174213] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2023] [Revised: 08/05/2023] [Accepted: 08/08/2023] [Indexed: 09/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Gliomas, which arise from glial cells in the brain, remain a significant challenge due to their location and resistance to traditional treatments. Despite research efforts and advancements in healthcare, the incidence of gliomas has risen dramatically over the past two decades. The dysregulation of microRNAs (miRNAs) has prompted the creation of therapeutic agents that specially target them. However, it has been reported that they are involved in complex signaling pathways that contribute to the loss of expression of tumor suppressor genes and the upregulation of the expression of oncogenes. In addition, numerous miRNAs promote the development, progression, and recurrence of gliomas by targeting crucial proteins and enzymes involved in metabolic pathways such as glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation. However, the complex interplay among these pathways along with other obstacles hinders the ability to apply miRNA targeting in clinical practice. This highlights the importance of identifying specific miRNAs to be targeted for therapy and having a complete understanding of the diverse pathways they are involved in. Therefore, the aim of this review is to provide an overview of the role of miRNAs in the progression and prognosis of gliomas, emphasizing the different pathways involved and identifying potential therapeutic targets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Omar Tluli
- College of Medicine, Qatar University, Doha P.O. Box 2713, Qatar; (O.T.); (M.A.-M.); (A.A.A.-K.); (A.F.A.); (R.A.-K.)
| | - Mazyona Al-Maadhadi
- College of Medicine, Qatar University, Doha P.O. Box 2713, Qatar; (O.T.); (M.A.-M.); (A.A.A.-K.); (A.F.A.); (R.A.-K.)
| | - Aisha Abdulla Al-Khulaifi
- College of Medicine, Qatar University, Doha P.O. Box 2713, Qatar; (O.T.); (M.A.-M.); (A.A.A.-K.); (A.F.A.); (R.A.-K.)
| | - Aishat F. Akomolafe
- College of Medicine, Qatar University, Doha P.O. Box 2713, Qatar; (O.T.); (M.A.-M.); (A.A.A.-K.); (A.F.A.); (R.A.-K.)
| | - Shaikha Y. Al-Kuwari
- College of Medicine, Qatar University, Doha P.O. Box 2713, Qatar; (O.T.); (M.A.-M.); (A.A.A.-K.); (A.F.A.); (R.A.-K.)
| | - Roudha Al-Khayarin
- College of Medicine, Qatar University, Doha P.O. Box 2713, Qatar; (O.T.); (M.A.-M.); (A.A.A.-K.); (A.F.A.); (R.A.-K.)
| | | | - Shona Pedersen
- College of Medicine, Qatar University, Doha P.O. Box 2713, Qatar; (O.T.); (M.A.-M.); (A.A.A.-K.); (A.F.A.); (R.A.-K.)
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5
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Taib N, Merhi M, Inchakalody V, Mestiri S, Hydrose S, Makni-Maalej K, Raza A, Sahir F, Azizi F, Nizamuddin PB, Fernandes Q, Yoosuf ZSKM, Almoghrabi S, Al-Zaidan L, Shablak A, Uddin S, Maccalli C, Al Homsi MU, Dermime S. Treatment with decitabine induces the expression of stemness markers, PD-L1 and NY-ESO-1 in colorectal cancer: potential for combined chemoimmunotherapy. J Transl Med 2023; 21:235. [PMID: 37004094 PMCID: PMC10067322 DOI: 10.1186/s12967-023-04073-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2022] [Accepted: 03/21/2023] [Indexed: 04/03/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The mechanism of tumor immune escape and progression in colorectal cancer (CRC) is widely investigated in-vitro to help understand and identify agents that might play a crucial role in response to treatment and improve the overall survival of CRC patients. Several mechanisms of immune escape and tumor progression, including expression of stemness markers, inactivation of immunoregulatory genes by methylation, and epigenetic silencing, have been reported in CRC, indicating the potential of demethylating agents as anti-cancer drugs. Of these, a chemotherapeutic demethylating agent, Decitabine (DAC), has been reported to induce a dual effect on both DNA demethylation and histone changes leading to an increased expression of target biomarkers, thus making it an attractive anti-tumorigenic drug. METHODS We compared the effect of DAC in primary 1076 Col and metastatic 1872 Col cell lines isolated and generated from patients' tumor tissues. Both cell lines were treated with DAC, and the expression of the NY-ESO-1 cancer-testis antigen, the PD-L1 immunoinhibitory marker, and the CD44, Nanog, KLF-4, CD133, MSI-1 stemness markers were analyzed using different molecular and immunological assays. RESULTS DAC treatment significantly upregulated stemness markers in both primary 1076 Col and meta-static 1872 Col cell lines, although a lower effect occurred on the latter: CD44 (7.85 fold; ***p = 0.0001 vs. (4.19 fold; *p = 0.0120), Nanog (4.1 fold; ***p < 0.0001 vs.1.69 fold; ***p = 0.0008), KLF-4 (4.33 fold; ***p < 0.0001 vs.2.48 fold; ***p = 0.0005), CD133 (16.77 fold; ***p = 0.0003 vs.6.36 fold; *p = 0.0166), and MSI-1 (2.33 fold; ***p = 0.0003 vs.2.3 fold; ***p = 0.0004), respectively. Interestingly, in the metastatic 1872 Col cells treated with DAC, the expression of both PD-L1 and NY-ESO-1 was increased tenfold (*p = 0.0128) and fivefold (***p < 0.0001), respectively. CONCLUSIONS We conclude that the upregulation of both stemness and immune checkpoint markers by DAC treatment on CRC cells might represent a mechanism of immune evasion. In addition, induction of NY-ESO-1 may represent an immuno-therapeutic option in metastatic CRC patients. Finally, the combination of DAC and anti-PD-1/anti-PD-L1 antibodies treatment should represent a potential therapeutic intervention for this group of patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nassiba Taib
- Translational Cancer Research Facility, National Center for Cancer Care and Research/Translational Research Institute, Hamad Medical Corporation, 2030, Doha, Qatar
- National Center for Cancer Care and Research, Hamad Medical Corporation, 2030, Doha, Qatar
| | - Maysaloun Merhi
- Translational Cancer Research Facility, National Center for Cancer Care and Research/Translational Research Institute, Hamad Medical Corporation, 2030, Doha, Qatar
- National Center for Cancer Care and Research, Hamad Medical Corporation, 2030, Doha, Qatar
| | - Varghese Inchakalody
- Translational Cancer Research Facility, National Center for Cancer Care and Research/Translational Research Institute, Hamad Medical Corporation, 2030, Doha, Qatar
- National Center for Cancer Care and Research, Hamad Medical Corporation, 2030, Doha, Qatar
| | - Sarra Mestiri
- Translational Cancer Research Facility, National Center for Cancer Care and Research/Translational Research Institute, Hamad Medical Corporation, 2030, Doha, Qatar
- National Center for Cancer Care and Research, Hamad Medical Corporation, 2030, Doha, Qatar
| | - Shereena Hydrose
- Translational Cancer Research Facility, National Center for Cancer Care and Research/Translational Research Institute, Hamad Medical Corporation, 2030, Doha, Qatar
- National Center for Cancer Care and Research, Hamad Medical Corporation, 2030, Doha, Qatar
| | - Karama Makni-Maalej
- Translational Cancer Research Facility, National Center for Cancer Care and Research/Translational Research Institute, Hamad Medical Corporation, 2030, Doha, Qatar
- National Center for Cancer Care and Research, Hamad Medical Corporation, 2030, Doha, Qatar
| | - Afsheen Raza
- Translational Cancer Research Facility, National Center for Cancer Care and Research/Translational Research Institute, Hamad Medical Corporation, 2030, Doha, Qatar
- National Center for Cancer Care and Research, Hamad Medical Corporation, 2030, Doha, Qatar
| | - Fairooz Sahir
- Translational Cancer Research Facility, National Center for Cancer Care and Research/Translational Research Institute, Hamad Medical Corporation, 2030, Doha, Qatar
- National Center for Cancer Care and Research, Hamad Medical Corporation, 2030, Doha, Qatar
| | - Fouad Azizi
- Translational Research Institute, Academic Health System, Hamad Medical Corporation, 2030, Doha, Qatar
| | - Parveen B Nizamuddin
- Translational Research Institute, Academic Health System, Hamad Medical Corporation, 2030, Doha, Qatar
| | - Queenie Fernandes
- Translational Cancer Research Facility, National Center for Cancer Care and Research/Translational Research Institute, Hamad Medical Corporation, 2030, Doha, Qatar
- College of Medicine, Qatar University, 2713, Doha, Qatar
| | - Zeenath Safira K M Yoosuf
- Translational Cancer Research Facility, National Center for Cancer Care and Research/Translational Research Institute, Hamad Medical Corporation, 2030, Doha, Qatar
- College of Health and Life Sciences, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, 34110, Doha, Qatar
| | - Salam Almoghrabi
- Translational Cancer Research Facility, National Center for Cancer Care and Research/Translational Research Institute, Hamad Medical Corporation, 2030, Doha, Qatar
- National Center for Cancer Care and Research, Hamad Medical Corporation, 2030, Doha, Qatar
| | - Lobna Al-Zaidan
- Translational Cancer Research Facility, National Center for Cancer Care and Research/Translational Research Institute, Hamad Medical Corporation, 2030, Doha, Qatar
- National Center for Cancer Care and Research, Hamad Medical Corporation, 2030, Doha, Qatar
| | - Alaaeldin Shablak
- National Center for Cancer Care and Research, Hamad Medical Corporation, 2030, Doha, Qatar
| | - Shahab Uddin
- Translational Research Institute and Dermatology Institute, Academic Health System, Hamad Medical Corporation, 2030, Doha, Qatar
- Laboratory Animal Research Center, Qatar University, 2713, Doha, Qatar
| | - Cristina Maccalli
- Laboratory of Immune and Biological Therapy, Human Immunology Department, Research Branch, Sidra Medicine, 26999, Doha, Qatar
| | | | - Said Dermime
- Translational Cancer Research Facility, National Center for Cancer Care and Research/Translational Research Institute, Hamad Medical Corporation, 2030, Doha, Qatar.
- National Center for Cancer Care and Research, Hamad Medical Corporation, 2030, Doha, Qatar.
- College of Health and Life Sciences, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, 34110, Doha, Qatar.
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Maalej KM, Merhi M, Inchakalody VP, Mestiri S, Alam M, Maccalli C, Cherif H, Uddin S, Steinhoff M, Marincola FM, Dermime S. CAR-cell therapy in the era of solid tumor treatment: current challenges and emerging therapeutic advances. Mol Cancer 2023; 22:20. [PMID: 36717905 PMCID: PMC9885707 DOI: 10.1186/s12943-023-01723-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 57.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2022] [Accepted: 01/16/2023] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Abstract
In the last decade, Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy has emerged as a promising immunotherapeutic approach to fight cancers. This approach consists of genetically engineered immune cells expressing a surface receptor, called CAR, that specifically targets antigens expressed on the surface of tumor cells. In hematological malignancies like leukemias, myeloma, and non-Hodgkin B-cell lymphomas, adoptive CAR-T cell therapy has shown efficacy in treating chemotherapy refractory patients. However, the value of this therapy remains inconclusive in the context of solid tumors and is restrained by several obstacles including limited tumor trafficking and infiltration, the presence of an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment, as well as adverse events associated with such therapy. Recently, CAR-Natural Killer (CAR-NK) and CAR-macrophages (CAR-M) were introduced as a complement/alternative to CAR-T cell therapy for solid tumors. CAR-NK cells could be a favorable substitute for CAR-T cells since they do not require HLA compatibility and have limited toxicity. Additionally, CAR-NK cells might be generated in large scale from several sources which would suggest them as promising off-the-shelf product. CAR-M immunotherapy with its capabilities of phagocytosis, tumor-antigen presentation, and broad tumor infiltration, is currently being investigated. Here, we discuss the emerging role of CAR-T, CAR-NK, and CAR-M cells in solid tumors. We also highlight the advantages and drawbacks of CAR-NK and CAR-M cells compared to CAR-T cells. Finally, we suggest prospective solutions such as potential combination therapies to enhance the efficacy of CAR-cells immunotherapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karama Makni Maalej
- grid.413548.f0000 0004 0571 546XTranslational Cancer Research Facility, National Center for Cancer Care and Research, Translational Research Institute, Hamad Medical Corporation, P.O. Box: 3050, Doha, Qatar
| | - Maysaloun Merhi
- grid.413548.f0000 0004 0571 546XTranslational Cancer Research Facility, National Center for Cancer Care and Research, Translational Research Institute, Hamad Medical Corporation, P.O. Box: 3050, Doha, Qatar
| | - Varghese P. Inchakalody
- grid.413548.f0000 0004 0571 546XTranslational Cancer Research Facility, National Center for Cancer Care and Research, Translational Research Institute, Hamad Medical Corporation, P.O. Box: 3050, Doha, Qatar
| | - Sarra Mestiri
- grid.413548.f0000 0004 0571 546XTranslational Cancer Research Facility, National Center for Cancer Care and Research, Translational Research Institute, Hamad Medical Corporation, P.O. Box: 3050, Doha, Qatar
| | - Majid Alam
- grid.413548.f0000 0004 0571 546XTranslational Research Institute, Academic Health System, Dermatology Institute, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar ,grid.413548.f0000 0004 0571 546XDepartment of Dermatology and Venereology, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar
| | - Cristina Maccalli
- grid.467063.00000 0004 0397 4222Laboratory of Immune and Biological Therapy, Research Department, Sidra Medicine, Doha, Qatar
| | - Honar Cherif
- grid.413548.f0000 0004 0571 546XDepartment of Hematology, National Center for Cancer Care and Research, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar
| | - Shahab Uddin
- grid.413548.f0000 0004 0571 546XTranslational Research Institute, Academic Health System, Dermatology Institute, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar
| | - Martin Steinhoff
- grid.413548.f0000 0004 0571 546XTranslational Research Institute, Academic Health System, Dermatology Institute, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar ,grid.413548.f0000 0004 0571 546XDepartment of Dermatology and Venereology, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar ,grid.416973.e0000 0004 0582 4340Department of Dermatology, Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar, Doha, Qatar ,grid.412603.20000 0004 0634 1084College of Medicine, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar ,grid.5386.8000000041936877XDepartment of Dermatology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, USA
| | - Francesco M. Marincola
- grid.418227.a0000 0004 0402 1634Global Head of Research, Kite Pharma, Santa Monica, California USA
| | - Said Dermime
- grid.413548.f0000 0004 0571 546XTranslational Cancer Research Facility, National Center for Cancer Care and Research, Translational Research Institute, Hamad Medical Corporation, P.O. Box: 3050, Doha, Qatar ,grid.452146.00000 0004 1789 3191College of Health and Life Sciences (CHLS), Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Doha, Qatar
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7
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Martin F, Schambach A, Maccalli C. Editorial: Engineered immune cells in cancer immunotherapy (EICCI). Front Immunol 2022; 13:1119363. [PMID: 36605186 PMCID: PMC9809271 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.1119363] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2022] [Accepted: 12/12/2022] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Francisco Martin
- Gene and Cell Therapy group, Departamento de Bioquimica y Biología molecular 3 e inmunología, Universidad de Granada, Center Pfizer-University of Granada-Junta de Andalucía Centre for Genomics and Oncological Research, Granada-Junta de Andalucía Centre for Genomics and Oncological Research (GENYO), Granada, Spain
| | - Axel Schambach
- Institute of Experimental Hematology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany,Division of Hematology/Oncology, Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Cristina Maccalli
- Research Department, Sidra Medicine, Doha, Qatar,College of Health and Life Science, Hamad bin Khalifa University, Doha, Qatar,*Correspondence: Cristina Maccalli,
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8
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Manjunath HS, Al Khulaifi M, Sidahmed H, Ammar A, Vadakekolathu J, Rutella S, Al-Mohannadi MJ, Elawad M, Mifsud W, Charles A, Maccalli C, Tomei S. Gene Expression Profiling of FFPE Samples: A Titration Test. Technol Cancer Res Treat 2022; 21:15330338221129710. [PMID: 36415121 PMCID: PMC9706083 DOI: 10.1177/15330338221129710] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2022] [Accepted: 05/23/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2023] Open
Abstract
The gene expression analysis of formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues is often hampered by poor RNA quality, which results from the oxidation, cross-linking and other chemical modifications induced by the inclusion in paraffin. Yet, FFPE samples are a valuable source for molecular studies and can provide great insights into disease progression and prognosis. With the advancement of genomic technologies, new methods have been established that offer reliable and accurate gene expression workflows on samples of poor quality. NanoString is a probe-based technology that allows the direct counting of the mRNA transcripts and can be applied to degraded samples. Here, we have tested 2 RNA extraction methods for FFPE samples, and we have performed a titration experiment to evaluate the impact of RNA degradation and RNA input on the gene expression profiles assessed using the NanoString IO360 panel. We have selected FFPE samples of different DV200 values and assessed them on the nCounter platform with 2 different amounts of input RNA. This study concludes that the nCounter is a robust and reliable platform to assess the gene expression of RNA samples with DV200 > 30%; its robustness and ease of use could be of particular benefit to clinical settings.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Moza Al Khulaifi
- Laboratory of Immune and Biological Therapy, Research Department,
Sidra
Medicine, Doha, Qatar
| | - Heba Sidahmed
- Laboratory of Immune and Biological Therapy, Research Department,
Sidra
Medicine, Doha, Qatar
| | - Adham Ammar
- Department of Pathology, Hamad Medical
Corporation, Doha, Qatar
| | - Jayakumar Vadakekolathu
- John van Geest Cancer Research Centre, School of Science and
Technology, Nottingham
Trent University, Nottingham, UK
| | - Sergio Rutella
- John van Geest Cancer Research Centre, School of Science and
Technology, Nottingham
Trent University, Nottingham, UK
| | | | - Mamoun Elawad
- Department of Gastroenterology, Sidra Medicine,
Doha, Qatar
| | - William Mifsud
- Department of Anatomical Pathology,
Sidra
Medicine, Doha, Qatar
| | - Adrian Charles
- Department of Anatomical Pathology,
Sidra
Medicine, Doha, Qatar
| | - Cristina Maccalli
- Laboratory of Immune and Biological Therapy, Research Department,
Sidra
Medicine, Doha, Qatar
| | - Sara Tomei
- Omics Core, Integrated Genomics Services, Research Department,
Sidra
Medicine, Doha, Qatar
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9
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Maccalli C, Al-Sulaiti A, El-Anbari M, Khulaifi MA, Toufiq M, Mathew R, Cugno C, Deola S, Mohan S, Olagunju D, Bonini C, Casucci M, Tomei S, Chaussabel D. 102 The deep phenotype characterization of ‘Off-the-Shelf’ CD19-chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells allows to identify their subset complexity and to optimize their manufacturing. J Immunother Cancer 2021. [DOI: 10.1136/jitc-2021-sitc2021.102] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022] Open
Abstract
BackgroundUmbilical cord blood (UCB) represents a promising source of T cells for the generation of ‘off-the-shelf’ T cells engineered to express a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR). This study is aimed at understanding the composition of T cell subsets within UCB-CAR-T cells.MethodsT cells, either from UCB or peripheral mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of healthy donors, were activated in vitro with CD3/CD28 mAbs either conjugated to magnetic beads (Dynabeads) or to a colloidal polymeric nanomatrix (TransAct; Miltenyi Biotec). T cells were then transduced with lentiviral vectors encoding for CD19-CD28z or CD19-4-1BBz CARs. The deep phenotype analyses of the CD19-CAR-T cells (N=32) was performed through a multidimensional flow cytometry to assess the expression/co-expression of T cell-associated markers (N=29). The NGFR was utilized as probe for the expression of CD19-CAR. To select the pertinent markers characterising the different groups, we applied a machine learning technique called L0-regularized logistic regression,1 2 and implemented in the R packageL0Learn. 5-fold cross-validation (CV) was used to select the optimal values of the tuning parameters. CD19-CAR-T cells have been also characterized for the transcriptomic profile by parallel quantitative PCR using the high throughput BioMark HD platform and for cytokines, perforin and granzyme B release upon the co-culture with CD19 expressing or not target cells.ResultsT lymphocytes UCB showed efficient expression of the CARs (40–70% of positive cells). Different T cell subsets could discriminate the composition of T cells activated with either Beads or TranAct. CD4+NGFR+CD45RA+ or CD8+NGFR+CD45RA+ T cells associated with different combinations of CCR7, CD62L, LAG3, CD57, CD56 could discriminate between cells activated with Beads vs. TranAct (figures 2–3). CD8+NGFR+CD45RO+CD279−CD152+ T cells were also differentially expressed in TranAct vs. Beads. The PCA analyses also highlighted differences in terms of CD19-CAR-T cell subsets (such as CD8+NGFR+CD45RO+CD62L+, CD8+NGFR+CD45RO+CCR7+, CD8+NGFR+CD45RO+CD272+TIM−3+, CD8+NGFR+CD45RO+CD272+TIM−3+, CD8+NGFR+CD45RA+CD272+TIM−3− and CD4+NGFR+CD45RA+CD272−TIM−3+) in PBMCs vs. UCBs (figure 1). In addition, bystander T cells with different phenotype not expressing the CARs were also detected within the populations of T cells with different origins. Similarly, different T subsets were found in relationship with the sources of T cells. These CD19-CAR-T cells were also characterized for the anti-tumor activity and transcriptomic profiling.Abstract 102 Figure 1PCA of CAR-T cells from UCB vs. PBMCsAbstract 102 Figure 2PCA of CAR-T cells from UCB to compare TransAct vs. beadsAbstract 102 Figure 3PCA of CD19-CAR-T cells to compare TransAct vs. Beads irrespective of the source of the T cellsConclusionsThe combination of deep phenotype characterization with novel statistical tools allowed to identify the complexity of subsets in the engineered T cells in relationship with the starting material and the methods for the activation of the lymphocytes. These findings have important implications for the optimization of the manufacturing of CD19-CAR-T cells.ReferencesAntoine Dedieu, Hussein Hazimeh, and Rahul Mazumder. Learningsparse classifiers: Continuous and mixed integer optimization perspectives. Journal of Machine Learning Research 2021.Hussein Hazimeh and Rahul Mazumder. Fast best subset selection: Coordinatedescent and local combinatorial optimization algorithms. Operations Research 2020;68(5):1517–1537.Ethics ApprovalSidra Medicine’s Ethics Board approval, #1812044429
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Taib N, Merhi M, Inchakalody V, Mestiri S, Raza A, Uddin S, Maccalli C, AlHomsi MU, Dermime S. 736 Treatment with decitabine (DAC) induces the expression of stemness markers, PD-L1 and NY-ESO-1 in colorectal cancer. J Immunother Cancer 2021. [DOI: 10.1136/jitc-2021-sitc2021.736] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022] Open
Abstract
BackgroundColorectal cancer (CRC) is a leading cause of cancer related deaths. Epigenetic silencing of numerous tumor suppressor genes by promoter region hypermethylation has been found in a variety of cancers including CRC. The chemotherapeutic drug decitabine (DAC) is a strong inducer of DNA demethylation. Primary cancer cells are known to express stemness markers as an escape pathway of treatment. Moreover, immunoregulatory genes can be inactivated in these cells by methylation of promoter CpG islands. Both mechanisms are known to play crucial roles in tumor progression. In this study, we investigated the effect of DAC on the expression of stemness markers, Programmed cell death ligand (PD-L1) and New York esophageal squamous cell carcinoma 1 (NY-ESO-1) in a metastatic (1872 Col) and a primary (1076 Col) colorectal cancer cell lines isolated from patients' tumor tissues.MethodsThe 1076 Col and 1872 Col cell lines were treated with 5 μM of DAC for 48 hours. Differential expression of a panel of stemness and immunoregulatory markers before and after treatment was analyzed by Flow cytometry (FACS), Western Blotting (WB) and quantitative real time PCR (qRT-PCR).ResultsThe following stemness markers: CD44, Nanog, KLF-4, CD133 and MSI1 were up-regulated in both 1076 Col and 1872 Col cell lines after treatment. However, significant up-regulation of the immunoinhibitory PD-L1 marker was recorded after treatment only in the metastatic 1872 Col. Interestingly, the NY-ESO-1 tumor antigen was significantly upregulated in both 1076 Col and 1872 Col cell lines after treatment.ConclusionsTreatment of colon cancer cells with DAC induces chemotherapeutic resistance as evidenced by the induction/upregulation of the stemness markers; and immune escape mechanism through the induction/upregulation of PD-L1. However, such treatment resulted in the induction/expression of the most immunogenic NY-ESO-1 tumor antigen. Our data suggest the importance use of a combined treatment strategy utilizing chemotherapy (DAC) with anti-PD-L-1/PD-1treatment in colon cancer patients.Ethics ApprovalThe study obtained ethical approval from Hamad Medical Corporation, Medical Research Center Ethic Board: Grant ID : IRGC-04-SI-17-142.
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11
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Tomei S, Volontè A, Ravindran S, Mazzoleni S, Wang E, Galli R, Maccalli C. MicroRNA Expression Profile Distinguishes Glioblastoma Stem Cells from Differentiated Tumor Cells. J Pers Med 2021; 11:jpm11040264. [PMID: 33916317 PMCID: PMC8066769 DOI: 10.3390/jpm11040264] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [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] [Received: 01/24/2021] [Revised: 03/03/2021] [Accepted: 03/16/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Glioblastoma (GBM) represents the most common and aggressive tumor of the brain. Despite the fact that several studies have recently addressed the molecular mechanisms underlying the disease, its etiology and pathogenesis are still poorly understood. GBM displays poor prognosis and its resistance to common therapeutic approaches makes it a highly recurrent tumor. Several studies have identified a subpopulation of tumor cells, known as GBM cancer stem cells (CSCs) characterized by the ability of self-renewal, tumor initiation and propagation. GBM CSCs have been shown to survive GBM chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Thus, targeting CSCs represents a promising approach to treat GBM. Recent evidence has shown that GBM is characterized by a dysregulated expression of microRNA (miRNAs). In this study we have investigated the difference between human GBM CSCs and their paired autologous differentiated tumor cells. Array-based profiling and quantitative Real-Time PCR (qRT-PCR) were performed to identify miRNAs differentially expressed in CSCs. The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) data were also interrogated, and functional interpretation analysis was performed. We have identified 14 miRNAs significantly differentially expressed in GBM CSCs (p < 0.005). MiR-21 and miR-95 were among the most significantly deregulated miRNAs, and their expression was also associated to patient survival. We believe that the data provided here carry important implications for future studies aiming at elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying GBM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara Tomei
- Research Department, Sidra Medicine, Doha PO26999, Qatar; (S.R.); (C.M.)
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +974-4003-7681
| | - Andrea Volontè
- Unit of Immuno-Biotherapy of Melanoma and Solid Tumors, Division of Molecular Oncology, San Raffaele Foundation Scientific Institute, 20132 Milan, Italy;
| | - Shilpa Ravindran
- Research Department, Sidra Medicine, Doha PO26999, Qatar; (S.R.); (C.M.)
| | - Stefania Mazzoleni
- Neural Stem Cell Biology Unit, Division of Neuroscience, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, 20132 Milan, Italy; (S.M.); (R.G.)
| | - Ena Wang
- Infectious Disease and Immunogenetics Section (IDIS), Department of Transfusion Medicine, Clinical Center, and Center for Human Immunology (CHI) National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA;
| | - Rossella Galli
- Neural Stem Cell Biology Unit, Division of Neuroscience, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, 20132 Milan, Italy; (S.M.); (R.G.)
| | - Cristina Maccalli
- Research Department, Sidra Medicine, Doha PO26999, Qatar; (S.R.); (C.M.)
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Parmiani G, Maccalli C. The early antitumor immune response is necessary for tumor growth: Re-visiting Prehn's hypothesis in the human melanoma system. Oncoimmunology 2021; 1:930-934. [PMID: 23162761 PMCID: PMC3489749 DOI: 10.4161/onci.21455] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Early events responsible of tumor growth in patients with a normal immune system are poorly understood. Here, we discuss, in the context of human melanoma, the Prehn hypothesis according to which a weak antitumor immune response may be required for tumor growth before weakly or non-immunogenic tumor cell subpopulations are selected by the immune system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giorgio Parmiani
- Unit of Immuno-Biotherapy of Melanoma and Solid Tumors; Program of Immmuno-Biotherapy of Cancer; San Raffaele Hospital; Milano, Italy
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13
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Guerrouahen B, Elnaggar M, Al-Mohannadi A, Kizhakayil D, Bonini C, Benjamin R, Brentjens R, Buchholz CJ, Casorati G, Ferrone S, Locke FL, Martin F, Schambach A, Turtle C, Veys P, van der Vliet HJ, Maccalli C. Proceedings From the First International Workshop at Sidra Medicine: "Engineered Immune Cells in Cancer Immunotherapy (EICCI): From Discovery to Off-the-Shelf Development", 15 th-16 th February 2019, Doha, Qatar. Front Immunol 2021; 11:589381. [PMID: 33584653 PMCID: PMC7874217 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2020.589381] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2020] [Accepted: 11/30/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The progress in the isolation and characterization of tumor antigen (TA)-specific T lymphocytes and in the genetic modification of immune cells allowed the clinical development of adoptive cell therapy (ACT). Several clinical studies highlighted the striking clinical activity of T cells engineered to express either Chimeric Antigen (CAR) or T Cell (TCR) Receptors to target molecularly defined antigens expressed on tumor cells. The breakthrough of immunotherapy is represented by the approval of CAR-T cells specific for advanced or refractory CD19+ B cell malignancies by both the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicinal Agency (EMA). Moreover, advances in the manufacturing and gene editing of engineered immune cells contributed to the selection of drug products with desired phenotype, refined specificity and decreased toxicity. An important step toward the optimization of CAR-T cell therapy is the development of "off-the shelf" T cell products that allow to reduce the complexity and the costs of the manufacturing and to render these drugs available for a broad number of cancer patients. The Engineered Immune Cells in Cancer Immunotherapy (EICCI) workshop hosted in Doha, Qatar, renowned experts, from both academia and industry, to present and discuss the progress on both pre-clinical and clinical development of genetically modified immune cells, including advances in the "off-the-shelf" manufacturing. These experts have addressed also organizational needs and hurdles for the clinical grade production and application of these biological drugs.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Chiara Bonini
- Experimental Hematology Unit, University Vita-Salute San Raffaele and Hospital San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Reuben Benjamin
- Division of Cancer Studies, King's College Hospital, London, United Kingdom
| | - Renier Brentjens
- Cellular Therapeutics, Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, United States
| | - Christian J Buchholz
- Research Unit for Molecular Biotechnology and Gene Therapy, Paul-Ehrlich-Institut, Langen, Germany
| | - Giulia Casorati
- Experimental Immunology Unit, University Vita-Salute San Raffaele and Hospital San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Soldano Ferrone
- Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Frederick L Locke
- Department of Blood and Marrow Transplant and Cellular Immunotherapy, Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, FL, United States
| | - Francisco Martin
- Pfizer/University of Granada/Andalusian Regional Government, Genomic Medicine Department, Granada, Spain
| | - Axel Schambach
- Institute of Experimental Hematology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.,Division of Hematology/Oncology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boson, MA, United States
| | - Cameron Turtle
- Clinical Research Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Paul Veys
- Bone Marrow Transplant Unit, Great Ormond Street (GOS) Hospital, and University College London GOS Institute of Child Health, London, United Kingdom
| | - Hans J van der Vliet
- Hans van Der Vliet, Department of Medical Oncology, Amsterdam UMC, VU University and Cancer Center, Amsterdam, Netherlands.,Lava Therapeutics, Utrecht, Netherlands
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Hu-Lieskovan S, Bhaumik S, Dhodapkar K, Grivel JCJB, Gupta S, Hanks BA, Janetzki S, Kleen TO, Koguchi Y, Lund AW, Maccalli C, Mahnke YD, Novosiadly RD, Selvan SR, Sims T, Zhao Y, Maecker HT. SITC cancer immunotherapy resource document: a compass in the land of biomarker discovery. J Immunother Cancer 2020; 8:e000705. [PMID: 33268350 PMCID: PMC7713206 DOI: 10.1136/jitc-2020-000705] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 05/15/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Since the publication of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer's (SITC) original cancer immunotherapy biomarkers resource document, there have been remarkable breakthroughs in cancer immunotherapy, in particular the development and approval of immune checkpoint inhibitors, engineered cellular therapies, and tumor vaccines to unleash antitumor immune activity. The most notable feature of these breakthroughs is the achievement of durable clinical responses in some patients, enabling long-term survival. These durable responses have been noted in tumor types that were not previously considered immunotherapy-sensitive, suggesting that all patients with cancer may have the potential to benefit from immunotherapy. However, a persistent challenge in the field is the fact that only a minority of patients respond to immunotherapy, especially those therapies that rely on endogenous immune activation such as checkpoint inhibitors and vaccination due to the complex and heterogeneous immune escape mechanisms which can develop in each patient. Therefore, the development of robust biomarkers for each immunotherapy strategy, enabling rational patient selection and the design of precise combination therapies, is key for the continued success and improvement of immunotherapy. In this document, we summarize and update established biomarkers, guidelines, and regulatory considerations for clinical immune biomarker development, discuss well-known and novel technologies for biomarker discovery and validation, and provide tools and resources that can be used by the biomarker research community to facilitate the continued development of immuno-oncology and aid in the goal of durable responses in all patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Siwen Hu-Lieskovan
- Huntsman Cancer Institute, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
- University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | | | - Kavita Dhodapkar
- Department of Pediatrics, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
- Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | | | - Sumati Gupta
- Huntsman Cancer Institute, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
| | - Brent A Hanks
- Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, USA
| | | | | | - Yoshinobu Koguchi
- Earle A Chiles Research Institute, Providence Cancer Institute, Portland, Oregon, USA
| | - Amanda W Lund
- Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon, USA
| | | | | | | | | | - Tasha Sims
- Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc, Tarrytown, New York, USA
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Pilla L, Alberti A, Di Mauro P, Gemelli M, Cogliati V, Cazzaniga ME, Bidoli P, Maccalli C. Molecular and Immune Biomarkers for Cutaneous Melanoma: Current Status and Future Prospects. Cancers (Basel) 2020; 12:E3456. [PMID: 33233603 PMCID: PMC7699774 DOI: 10.3390/cancers12113456] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [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] [Received: 09/28/2020] [Revised: 11/11/2020] [Accepted: 11/11/2020] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Advances in the genomic, molecular and immunological make-up of melanoma allowed the development of novel targeted therapy and of immunotherapy, leading to changes in the paradigm of therapeutic interventions and improvement of patients' overall survival. Nevertheless, the mechanisms regulating either the responsiveness or the resistance of melanoma patients to therapies are still mostly unknown. The development of either the combinations or of the sequential treatment of different agents has been investigated but without a strongly molecularly motivated rationale. The need for robust biomarkers to predict patients' responsiveness to defined therapies and for their stratification is still unmet. Progress in immunological assays and genomic techniques as long as improvement in designing and performing studies monitoring the expression of these markers along with the evolution of the disease allowed to identify candidate biomarkers. However, none of them achieved a definitive role in predicting patients' clinical outcomes. Along this line, the cross-talk of melanoma cells with tumor microenvironment plays an important role in the evolution of the disease and needs to be considered in light of the role of predictive biomarkers. The overview of the relationship between the molecular basis of melanoma and targeted therapies is provided in this review, highlighting the benefit for clinical responses and the limitations. Moreover, the role of different candidate biomarkers is described together with the technical approaches for their identification. The provided evidence shows that progress has been achieved in understanding the molecular basis of melanoma and in designing advanced therapeutic strategies. Nevertheless, the molecular determinants of melanoma and their role as biomarkers predicting patients' responsiveness to therapies warrant further investigation with the vision of developing more effective precision medicine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lorenzo Pilla
- Division of Medical Oncology, San Gerardo Hospital, University of Milano-Bicocca School of Medicine, 20900 Monza, Italy; (P.D.M.); (M.G.); (V.C.); (M.E.C.); (P.B.)
| | - Andrea Alberti
- Medical Oncology Unit, Department of Medical and Surgical Specialties, Radiological Health Science and Public Health, University of Brescia, ASST Ospedali Civili, 25123 Brescia, Italy;
| | - Pierluigi Di Mauro
- Division of Medical Oncology, San Gerardo Hospital, University of Milano-Bicocca School of Medicine, 20900 Monza, Italy; (P.D.M.); (M.G.); (V.C.); (M.E.C.); (P.B.)
| | - Maria Gemelli
- Division of Medical Oncology, San Gerardo Hospital, University of Milano-Bicocca School of Medicine, 20900 Monza, Italy; (P.D.M.); (M.G.); (V.C.); (M.E.C.); (P.B.)
| | - Viola Cogliati
- Division of Medical Oncology, San Gerardo Hospital, University of Milano-Bicocca School of Medicine, 20900 Monza, Italy; (P.D.M.); (M.G.); (V.C.); (M.E.C.); (P.B.)
| | - Marina Elena Cazzaniga
- Division of Medical Oncology, San Gerardo Hospital, University of Milano-Bicocca School of Medicine, 20900 Monza, Italy; (P.D.M.); (M.G.); (V.C.); (M.E.C.); (P.B.)
| | - Paolo Bidoli
- Division of Medical Oncology, San Gerardo Hospital, University of Milano-Bicocca School of Medicine, 20900 Monza, Italy; (P.D.M.); (M.G.); (V.C.); (M.E.C.); (P.B.)
| | - Cristina Maccalli
- Laboratory of Immune and Biological Therapy, Research Department, Sidra Medicine, Doha 26999, Qatar;
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Gotti M, Defrancesco I, D'Angelo M, Basso S, Crotto L, Marinelli A, Maccalli C, Iaconianni V. Cancer Immunotherapy Using Chimeric Antigen Receptor Expressing T-Cells: Present and Future Needs of Clinical Cancer Centers. Front Immunol 2020; 11:565236. [PMID: 33193333 PMCID: PMC7662555 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2020.565236] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [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] [Received: 05/24/2020] [Accepted: 10/06/2020] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Chimeric Antigen Receptor-T cells (CAR-T) are considered novel biological agents, designed to selectively attack cancer cells expressing specific antigens, with demonstrated clinical activity in patients affected with relapsed/refractory B-cell malignancies. In consideration of their complexity, the use of CAR-T requires dedicated clinical setting and health care practitioners with expertise in the selection, treatment, and management of toxicities and side effects. Such issue appears particularly important when contextualized in the rapid progress of CAR-T cell treatment, translating into a constant need of updating and evolution. Moreover, the clinical grade manufacturing of CAR-T cells is complex and implies articulated regulatory and organizational aspects. The main goal of this review is to summarize and provide an accurate analysis of the clinical, logistic, and regulatory requirements of CAR-T cell centers. Finally, we describe a new occupational figure called “CAR-T specialist” devoted to the establishment and coordination of the required facilities and regulatory landscape in the context of cancer centers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manuel Gotti
- Division of Hematology, Fondazione Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS) Policlinico San Matteo, Pavia, Italy
| | | | - Mario D'Angelo
- Department of Onco-hematology, Cell and Gene Therapy, Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù IRCCS, Roma, Italy
| | - Sabrina Basso
- Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, Pavia, Italy.,Cell Factory, Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, Pavia, Italy
| | - Luca Crotto
- Candiolo Cancer Institute, FPO-IRCCS, Candiolo, Italy
| | - Alfredo Marinelli
- Operative Unit (OU) Neuroncology, University Federico II, Napoli, Italy.,IRCCS Neuromed Istituto Neurologico Mediterraneo Pozzilli (INM), Pozzilli, Italy
| | - Cristina Maccalli
- Laboratory of Immune and Biological Therapy, Research Department, Sidra Medicine, Doha, Qatar
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Rovida A, Maccalli C, Scarfò L, Dellabona P, Stamatopoulos K, Ghia P. Exploiting B-cell Receptor Stereotypy to Design Tailored Immunotherapy in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia. Clin Cancer Res 2020; 27:729-739. [PMID: 33051305 DOI: 10.1158/1078-0432.ccr-20-1632] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2020] [Revised: 08/12/2020] [Accepted: 10/06/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE Approximately 30% of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) can be grouped into subsets with stereotyped B-cell receptor immunoglobulin (BcR IG) displaying remarkable similarity in the heavy complementarity-determining region 3 (VH CDR3). Here, we investigated whether the consensus VH CDR3 sequences from CLL stereotyped subsets can be exploited for immunotherapy approaches. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN Immunogenic epitopes from the consensus VH CDR3 sequence of the clinically aggressive subsets #1 and #2 and from Eμ-TCL1 mice, which spontaneously develop CLL with BcR IG stereotypy, were identified and used to generate specific HLA class I- and II-restricted T cells in vitro. T-cell reactivity was assayed in vitro as IFNγ production. Bone marrow-derived dendritic cells loaded with the peptides were used as vaccination strategy to restrain leukemia development in the Eμ-TCL1 mouse model. RESULTS These stereotyped epitopes were naturally processed and presented by CLL cells to the VH CDR3-specific T cells. Furthermore, we validated the efficacy of VH CDR3 peptide-based immunotherapy in the Eμ-TCL1 transplantable mouse model. Immunization of mice against defined VH CDR3 peptide epitopes, prior to the challenge with the corresponding leukemia cells, resulted in the control of CLL development in a significant fraction of mice, and increased overall survival. CONCLUSIONS Our data highlight the immunogenicity of stereotyped VH CDR3 sequences and support the feasibility and efficacy of their use for novel cancer vaccine in CLL. Such approach has the advantage to generate "off-the-shelf" therapeutic vaccines for relevant groups of patients belonging to stereotyped subsets.See related commentary by Seiffert, p. 659.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessandra Rovida
- Unit of B Cell Neoplasia, Division of Experimental Oncology, IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele, Milano, Italy
| | - Cristina Maccalli
- Unit of Immuno-biotherapy of melanoma and solid tumors, Division of Experimental Oncology, IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele, Milano, Italy
| | - Lydia Scarfò
- Unit of B Cell Neoplasia, Division of Experimental Oncology, IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele, Milano, Italy.,Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Milan, Italy.,Strategic Research Program on CLL, Division of Experimental Oncology, IRCCS, Ospedale San Raffaele, Milano, Italy
| | - Paolo Dellabona
- Unit of Experimental Immunology, Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious diseases, IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele, Milano, Italy
| | - Kostas Stamatopoulos
- Hematology Department and HCT Unit, G. Papanikolaou Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece. .,Institute of Applied Biosciences, Centre for Research and Technology Hellas, Thessaloniki, Greece
| | - Paolo Ghia
- Unit of B Cell Neoplasia, Division of Experimental Oncology, IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele, Milano, Italy. .,Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Milan, Italy.,Strategic Research Program on CLL, Division of Experimental Oncology, IRCCS, Ospedale San Raffaele, Milano, Italy
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19
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Guerrouahen BS, Maccalli C, Cugno C, Rutella S, Akporiaye ET. Reverting Immune Suppression to Enhance Cancer Immunotherapy. Front Oncol 2020; 9:1554. [PMID: 32039024 PMCID: PMC6985581 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2019.01554] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [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] [Received: 09/04/2019] [Accepted: 12/23/2019] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Tumors employ strategies to escape immune control. The principle aim of most cancer immunotherapies is to restore effective immune surveillance. Among the different processes regulating immune escape, tumor microenvironment-associated soluble factors, and/or cell surface-bound molecules are mostly responsible for dysfunctional activity of tumor-specific CD8+T cells. These dynamic immunosuppressive networks prevent tumor rejection at several levels, limiting also the success of immunotherapies. Nevertheless, the recent clinical development of immune checkpoint inhibitors or of molecules modulating cellular targets and immunosuppressive enzymes highlights the great potential of approaches based on the selective disruption of immunosuppressive networks. Currently, the administration of different categories of immunotherapy in combination regimens is the ultimate modality for impacting the survival of cancer patients. With the advent of immune checkpoint inhibitors, designed to mount an effective antitumor immune response, profound changes occurred in cancer immunotherapy: from a global stimulation of the immune system to a specific targeting of an immune component. This review will specifically highlight the players, the mechanisms limiting an efficient antitumor response and the current immunotherapy modalities tailored to target immune suppressive pathways. We also discuss the ongoing challenges encountered by these strategies and provide suggestions for circumventing hurdles to new immunotherapeutic approaches, including the use of relevant biomarkers in the optimization of immunotherapy regimens and the identification of patients who can benefit from defined immune-based approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bella S Guerrouahen
- Sidra Medicine, Member of Qatar Foundation, Research Department, Doha, Qatar
| | - Cristina Maccalli
- Sidra Medicine, Member of Qatar Foundation, Research Department, Doha, Qatar
| | - Chiara Cugno
- Sidra Medicine, Member of Qatar Foundation, Research Department, Doha, Qatar
| | - Sergio Rutella
- John van Geest Cancer Research Centre, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, United Kingdom
| | - Emmanuel T Akporiaye
- Veana Therapeutics, Inc., Portland, OR, United States.,Providence Cancer Center, Portland, OR, United States
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Ravindran S, Rasool S, Maccalli C. The Cross Talk between Cancer Stem Cells/Cancer Initiating Cells and Tumor Microenvironment: The Missing Piece of the Puzzle for the Efficient Targeting of these Cells with Immunotherapy. Cancer Microenviron 2019; 12:133-148. [PMID: 31758404 PMCID: PMC6937350 DOI: 10.1007/s12307-019-00233-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2019] [Accepted: 10/17/2019] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Cancer Stem Cells/Cancer Initiating Cells (CSCs/CICs) is a rare sub-population within a tumor that is responsible for tumor formation, progression and resistance to therapies. The interaction between CSCs/CICs and tumor microenvironment (TME) can sustain “stemness” properties and promote their survival and plasticity. This cross-talk is also pivotal in regulating and modulating CSC/CIC properties. This review will provide an overview of the mechanisms underlying the mutual interaction between CSCs/CICs and TME. Particular focus will be dedicated to the immunological profile of CSCs/CICs and its role in orchestrating cancer immunosurveillance. Moreover, the available immunotherapy strategies that can target CSCs/CICs and of their possible implementation will be discussed. Overall, the dissection of the mechanisms regulating the CSC/CIC-TME interaction is warranted to understand the plasticity and immunoregulatory properties of stem-like tumor cells and to achieve complete eradications of tumors through the optimization of immunotherapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shilpa Ravindran
- Research Department, Sidra Medicine, Al Luqta Street, PO Box 26999, Doha, Qatar
| | - Saad Rasool
- Research Department, Sidra Medicine, Al Luqta Street, PO Box 26999, Doha, Qatar
| | - Cristina Maccalli
- Research Department, Sidra Medicine, Al Luqta Street, PO Box 26999, Doha, Qatar.
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Maccalli C, Tasian SK, Rutella S. Targeting Leukemia Stem Cells and the Immunological Bone Marrow Microenvironment. Resistance to Targeted Anti-Cancer Therapeutics 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-16624-3_7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
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Maccalli C, Rasul KI, Elawad M, Ferrone S. The role of cancer stem cells in the modulation of anti-tumor immune responses. Semin Cancer Biol 2018; 53:189-200. [DOI: 10.1016/j.semcancer.2018.09.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2018] [Revised: 09/12/2018] [Accepted: 09/17/2018] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
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Deola S, Guerrouahen BS, Sidahmed H, Al-Mohannadi A, Elnaggar M, Elsadig R, Abdelalim EM, Petrovski G, Gadina M, Thrasher A, Wels WS, Hunger SP, Wang E, Marincola FM, Maccalli C, Cugno C. Tailoring cells for clinical needs: Meeting report from the Advanced Therapy in Healthcare symposium (October 28-29 2017, Doha, Qatar). J Transl Med 2018; 16:276. [PMID: 30305089 PMCID: PMC6180452 DOI: 10.1186/s12967-018-1652-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2018] [Accepted: 10/01/2018] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
New technologies and therapies designed to facilitate development of personalized treatments are rapidly emerging in the field of biomedicine. Strikingly, the goal of personalized medicine refined the concept of therapy by developing cell-based therapies, the so-called “living drugs”. Breakthrough advancements were achieved in this regard in the fields of gene therapy, cell therapy, tissue-engineered products and advanced therapeutic techniques. The Advanced Therapies in Healthcare symposium, organized by the Clinical Research Center Department of Sidra Medicine, in Doha, Qatar (October 2017), brought together world-renowned experts from the fields of oncology, hematology, immunology, inflammation, autoimmune disorders, and stem cells to offer a comprehensive picture of the status of worldwide advanced therapies in both pre-clinical and clinical development, providing insights to the research phase, clinical data and regulatory aspects of these therapies. Highlights of the meeting are provided in this meeting report.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara Deola
- Research Department, Clinical Research Center, Sidra Medicine, Doha, Qatar
| | | | - Heba Sidahmed
- Research Department, Clinical Research Center, Sidra Medicine, Doha, Qatar
| | - Anjud Al-Mohannadi
- Research Department, Clinical Research Center, Sidra Medicine, Doha, Qatar
| | - Muhammad Elnaggar
- Research Department, Clinical Research Center, Sidra Medicine, Doha, Qatar
| | - Ramaz Elsadig
- Research Department, Clinical Research Center, Sidra Medicine, Doha, Qatar
| | - Essam M Abdelalim
- Diabetes Research Center, Qatar Biomedical Research Institute, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar Foundation, Education City, Doha, Qatar
| | | | | | - Adrian Thrasher
- UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London, UK
| | - Winfried S Wels
- Georg Speyer Haus, Institute for Tumor Biology and Experimental Therapy, Frankfurt, Germany
| | | | - Ena Wang
- Immune Oncology Discovery and System Biology, AbbVie, Redwood City, CA, USA
| | | | | | - Cristina Maccalli
- Research Department, Clinical Research Center, Sidra Medicine, Doha, Qatar
| | - Chiara Cugno
- Research Department, Clinical Research Center, Sidra Medicine, Doha, Qatar.
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Abstract
INTRODUCTION Cancer vaccines represent one of the oldest immunotherapy strategies. A variety of tumor-associated antigens have been exploited to investigate their immunogenicity as well as multiple strategies for vaccine administration. These efforts have led to the development of several clinical trials in tumors with different histological origins to test the clinical efficacy of cancer vaccines. However, suboptimal clinical results have been reported mainly due to the lack of optimized strategies to induce strong and sustained systemic tumor antigen-specific immune responses. AREAS COVERED We provide an overview of different types of cancer vaccines that have been developed and used in the context of clinical studies. Moreover, we review different preclinical and clinical strategies pursued to enhance the immunogenicity, stability, and targeting at tumor site of cancer vaccines. EXPERT OPINION Additional and appropriate preclinical studies are warranted to optimize the immunogenicity and delivery of cancer vaccines. The appropriate choice of target antigens is challenging; however, the exploitation of neoantigens generated from somatic mutations of tumor cells represents a promising approach to target highly immunogenic tumor-specific antigens. Remarkably, the investigation of the combination of cancer vaccines with immunomodulating agents able to skew the tumor microenvironment from immunosuppressive to immunostimulating will dramatically improve their clinical efficacy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lorenzo Pilla
- a Medical Oncology Unit , San Gerardo Hospital , Monza , Italy
| | - Soldano Ferrone
- b Department of Surgery , Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School , Boston , MA , USA
| | - Cristina Maccalli
- c Clinical Research Center, Division of Translational Medicine , Sidra Medicine , Doha , Qatar
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Elkum N, ElAnbari M, Al-Kuwari R, Maccalli C, Gehani S. Prognosis and molecular subtypes of breast cancer in Qatar: The first national report. J Clin Oncol 2018. [DOI: 10.1200/jco.2018.36.15_suppl.e13595] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
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Maccalli C, Giannarelli D, Chiarucci C, Cutaia O, Giacobini G, Hendrickx W, Amato G, Annesi D, Bedognetti D, Altomonte M, Danielli R, Calabrò L, Di Giacomo AM, Marincola FM, Parmiani G, Maio M. Soluble NKG2D ligands are biomarkers associated with the clinical outcome to immune checkpoint blockade therapy of metastatic melanoma patients. Oncoimmunology 2017; 6:e1323618. [PMID: 28811958 DOI: 10.1080/2162402x.2017.1323618] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2017] [Revised: 04/20/2017] [Accepted: 04/21/2017] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
The introduction of immune checkpoint blockade into the clinical practice resulted in improvement of survival of a significant portion of melanoma patients. Consequently, predictive biomarkers of response are needed to optimize patient's stratification and the development of combination therapies. The aim of this study was to determine whether levels of soluble NKG2D ligands (MICA, MICB, ULBP1, 2 and 3; sNKG2DLs) in the serum of melanoma patients can serve as useful predictors of response to the treatment with immune checkpoint blockade. sNKG2DLs were measured by ELISA in baseline and post-treatment serum and these results were correlated with the clinical outcome of melanoma patients (N = 194). The same determinations were performed also in a cohort of patients (N = 65) treated with either chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or mutated BRAF inhibitors (BRAFi). Absence of soluble MICB and ULBP-1 in baseline serum correlated with improved survival (OS = 21.6 and 25.3 mo and p = 0.02 and 0.01, respectively) of patients treated with immunological therapies while detectable levels of these molecules were found in poor survivors (OS = 8.8 and 12.1 mo, respectively). Multivariate analysis showed that LDH (p <0.0001), sULBP-1 (p = 0.02), and sULBP-2 (p = 0.02) were independent predictors of clinical outcome for the cohort of melanoma patients treated with immune checkpoint blockade. Only LDH but not sNKG2DLs was significantly associated with the clinical outcome of patients treated with standard or BRAFi regimens. These findings highlight the relevance of sNKG2DLs in the serum of melanoma patients as biomarkers for patients' stratification and optimization of immune checkpoint inhibition regimens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cristina Maccalli
- Research Branch, Division of Translational Medicine, Sidra Medical and Research Center, Doha, Qatar
| | - Diana Giannarelli
- Unit of Statistics, Regina Elena National Cancer Institute, Rome, Italy
| | - Carla Chiarucci
- Medical Oncology and Immunotherapy, University Hospital of Siena, Istituto Toscano Tumori, Siena, Italy.,University of Siena, Siena, Italy
| | - Ornella Cutaia
- Medical Oncology and Immunotherapy, University Hospital of Siena, Istituto Toscano Tumori, Siena, Italy.,University of Siena, Siena, Italy
| | - Gianluca Giacobini
- Medical Oncology and Immunotherapy, University Hospital of Siena, Istituto Toscano Tumori, Siena, Italy.,University of Siena, Siena, Italy
| | - Wouter Hendrickx
- Research Branch, Division of Translational Medicine, Sidra Medical and Research Center, Doha, Qatar
| | - Giovanni Amato
- Medical Oncology and Immunotherapy, University Hospital of Siena, Istituto Toscano Tumori, Siena, Italy
| | - Diego Annesi
- Medical Oncology and Immunotherapy, University Hospital of Siena, Istituto Toscano Tumori, Siena, Italy
| | - Davide Bedognetti
- Research Branch, Division of Translational Medicine, Sidra Medical and Research Center, Doha, Qatar
| | - Maresa Altomonte
- Medical Oncology and Immunotherapy, University Hospital of Siena, Istituto Toscano Tumori, Siena, Italy
| | - Riccardo Danielli
- Medical Oncology and Immunotherapy, University Hospital of Siena, Istituto Toscano Tumori, Siena, Italy
| | - Luana Calabrò
- Medical Oncology and Immunotherapy, University Hospital of Siena, Istituto Toscano Tumori, Siena, Italy
| | - Anna Maria Di Giacomo
- Medical Oncology and Immunotherapy, University Hospital of Siena, Istituto Toscano Tumori, Siena, Italy
| | - Francesco M Marincola
- Office of the Chief Research Officer (CRO), Research Branch, Sidra Medical and Research Center, Doha, Qatar
| | - Giorgio Parmiani
- Medical Oncology and Immunotherapy, University Hospital of Siena, Istituto Toscano Tumori, Siena, Italy.,Italian Network for Bio-therapy of Tumors-(NIBIT)-Laboratory, Siena, Italy
| | - Michele Maio
- Medical Oncology and Immunotherapy, University Hospital of Siena, Istituto Toscano Tumori, Siena, Italy
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Gulley JL, Berzofsky JA, Butler MO, Cesano A, Fox BA, Gnjatic S, Janetzki S, Kalavar S, Karanikas V, Khleif SN, Kirsch I, Lee PP, Maccalli C, Maecker H, Schlom J, Seliger B, Siebert J, Stroncek DF, Thurin M, Yuan J, Butterfield LH. Immunotherapy biomarkers 2016: overcoming the barriers. J Immunother Cancer 2017; 5:29. [PMID: 28653584 PMCID: PMC5359902 DOI: 10.1186/s40425-017-0225-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2017] [Accepted: 02/13/2017] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
This report summarizes the symposium, 'Immunotherapy Biomarkers 2016: Overcoming the Barriers', which was held on April 1, 2016 at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. The symposium, cosponsored by the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI), focused on emerging immunotherapy biomarkers, new technologies, current hurdles to further progress, and recommendations for advancing the field of biomarker development.
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Affiliation(s)
- James L Gulley
- Genitourinary Malignancies Branch, Center for Cancer Research, NCI, 10 Center Dr., 13 N240, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA
| | - Jay A Berzofsky
- Vaccine Branch, Center for Cancer Research, 41 Medlars Dr, Bldg 41 Rm D702D, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA
| | - Marcus O Butler
- Princess Margaret Cancer Center/Ontario Cancer Institute, RM 9-622, 610 University Ave, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Alessandra Cesano
- NanoString, Inc., 500 Fairview Avenue North, Seattle, WA, 98109, USA
| | - Bernard A Fox
- Earle A. Chiles Research Institute, Providence Cancer Center, 4805 NE Glisan Street, Portland, OR, 97213, USA
| | - Sacha Gnjatic
- Department of Hematology/Oncology, Tisch Cancer Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, S5-105, 1470 Madison Avenue, Box 1128, New York, NY, 10029, USA
| | - Sylvia Janetzki
- ZellNet Consulting, Inc., 555 North Avenue, Fort Lee, NJ, 07024, USA
| | - Shyam Kalavar
- Center for Devices and Radiological Health, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 1401 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD, 20852, USA
| | - Vaios Karanikas
- Roche Innovation Center Zurich, Wagistrasse 18, Schlieren, Switzerland
| | - Samir N Khleif
- Georgia Cancer Center, Augusta University, 1120 15th Street, CN-2101A, Augusta, GA, 30912, USA
| | - Ilan Kirsch
- Adaptive Biotechnologies, Inc., 1551 Eastlake Ave. E., Seattle, WA, 98102, USA
| | - Peter P Lee
- Department of Immuno-oncology, City of Hope, 1500 East Duarte Road, Duarte, CA, 91010, USA
| | - Cristina Maccalli
- Department of Translational Medicine, Sidra Medical and Research Center, Doha, Qatar
| | - Holden Maecker
- Stanford University Medical Center, 299 Campus Drive, Stanford, CA, 94303, USA
| | - Jeffrey Schlom
- National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, 10 Center Drive, Bldg. 10, Room 8B09, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA
| | - Barbara Seliger
- Institute of Medical Immunology, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Magdeburger Str. 2, Halle, Germany
| | - Janet Siebert
- CytoAnalytics, 3500 South Albion Street, Cherry Hills Village, CO, 80113, USA
| | - David F Stroncek
- Department of Transfusion Medicine, National Institutes of Health, 10 Center Drive, Building 10, Room 3C720, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA
| | - Magdalena Thurin
- National Cancer Institute, Cancer Diagnosis Program, DCTD, National Institutes of Health, 9609 Medical Center Drive, Bethesda, 20892, MD, USA
| | - Jianda Yuan
- Early Clinical Oncology Development, Merck Research Laboratories, Rahway, NJ, 07065, USA
| | - Lisa H Butterfield
- Department of Medicine, Surgery and Immunology, University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, 5117 Centre Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA.
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28
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Roelands J, Decock J, Boughorbel S, Rinchai D, Maccalli C, Ceccarelli M, Black M, Print C, Chou J, Presnell S, Quinn C, Jithesh P, Syed N, Al Bader SBJ, Bedri S, Wang E, Marincola FM, Chaussabel D, Kuppen P, Miller LD, Bedognetti D, Hendrickx W. A collection of annotated and harmonized human breast cancer transcriptome datasets, including immunologic classification. F1000Res 2017. [PMID: 29527288 PMCID: PMC5820610 DOI: 10.12688/f1000research.10960.2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The increased application of high-throughput approaches in translational research has expanded the number of publicly available data repositories. Gathering additional valuable information contained in the datasets represents a crucial opportunity in the biomedical field. To facilitate and stimulate utilization of these datasets, we have recently developed an interactive data browsing and visualization web application, the Gene Expression Browser (GXB). In this note, we describe a curated compendium of 13 public datasets on human breast cancer, representing a total of 2142 transcriptome profiles. We classified the samples according to different immune based classification systems and integrated this information into the datasets. Annotated and harmonized datasets were uploaded to GXB. Study samples were categorized in different groups based on their immunologic tumor response profiles, intrinsic molecular subtypes and multiple clinical parameters. Ranked gene lists were generated based on relevant group comparisons. In this data note, we demonstrate the utility of GXB to evaluate the expression of a gene of interest, find differential gene expression between groups and investigate potential associations between variables with a specific focus on immunologic classification in breast cancer. This interactive resource is publicly available online at:
http://breastcancer.gxbsidra.org/dm3/geneBrowser/list.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica Roelands
- Tumor Biology, Immunology and Therapy section, Sidra Medical and Research Center, Doha, Qatar
| | - Julie Decock
- Qatar Biomedical Research Institute, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar Foundation, Doha, Qatar
| | - Sabri Boughorbel
- Systems Biology Department, Sidra Medical and Research Center, Doha, Qatar
| | - Darawan Rinchai
- Tumor Biology, Immunology and Therapy section, Sidra Medical and Research Center, Doha, Qatar
| | - Cristina Maccalli
- Tumor Biology, Immunology and Therapy section, Sidra Medical and Research Center, Doha, Qatar
| | | | - Michael Black
- Department of Biochemistry, Otago School of Medical Sciences, University of Otago, Dunedin, 9054, New Zealand
| | - Cris Print
- Department of Molecular Medicine and Pathology and Maurice Wilkins Institute, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, The University of Auckland, Auckland, 1142, New Zealand
| | - Jeff Chou
- Department of Cancer Biology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, 27157, USA
| | - Scott Presnell
- Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason, Seattle, WA, 98101, USA
| | - Charlie Quinn
- Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason, Seattle, WA, 98101, USA
| | - Puthen Jithesh
- Translational Bioinformatics, Division of Biomedical Informatics Research, Sidra Medical and Research Center, Doha, Qatar
| | - Najeeb Syed
- Technical Bioinformatics team, Biomedical Informatics Division, Sidra Medical and Research Center, Doha, Qatar
| | - Salha B J Al Bader
- National Center for Cancer Care and Research (NCCCR), Hamad General Hospital, Doha, Qatar
| | | | - Ena Wang
- Division of Translational Medicine, Research Branch, Sidra Medical and Research Center, Doha, Qatar
| | - Francesco M Marincola
- Office of the Chief Research Officer (CRO), Research Branch, Sidra Medical and Research Center, Doha, Qatar
| | - Damien Chaussabel
- Systems Biology Department, Sidra Medical and Research Center, Doha, Qatar
| | - Peter Kuppen
- Department of Surgery, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, 2333 ZA, Netherlands
| | - Lance D Miller
- Department of Cancer Biology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, 27157, USA
| | - Davide Bedognetti
- Tumor Biology, Immunology and Therapy section, Sidra Medical and Research Center, Doha, Qatar
| | - Wouter Hendrickx
- Tumor Biology, Immunology and Therapy section, Sidra Medical and Research Center, Doha, Qatar
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29
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Maccalli C, Parmiani G, Ferrone S. Immunomodulating and Immunoresistance Properties of Cancer-Initiating Cells: Implications for the Clinical Success of Immunotherapy. Immunol Invest 2017; 46:221-238. [PMID: 28287848 DOI: 10.1080/08820139.2017.1280051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Cancer-initiating cells (CICs) represent a relatively rare subpopulation of cells endowed with self-renewal, stemness properties, tumorigenicity in immunodeficient mice, and resistance to standard therapies as well as to immunotherapy. Here, we review the biological and immunological characteristics of CICs with special focus on the immunomodulating mechanisms they utilize to escape from immunosurveillance. The recently developed immunotherapeutic strategies have yielded remarkable clinical results in many types of tumors, indicating that indeed a patient's immune system can mount an immune response, which is effective in controlling tumor growth. However, a high proportion of patients is resistant or acquires resistance to these therapeutic strategies. The latter findings may reflect, at least in some cases, the inability of the immunotherapeutic strategies used to eradicate CICs. The CICs that escape immune recognition and destruction may give rise to new tumors in the same organ site or through the metastatic colonization in other anatomic sites. Identification of novel therapeutic approaches that can eradicate CICs is a major challenge in the cancer therapy area. An improved understanding of the interactions of CICs with immune system and with tumor microenvironment may contribute to optimize the available therapies and to design novel combination treatments for cancer therapy. ABBREVIATIONS ALDH, aldehyde dehydrogenase; APC, antigen-presenting cells; APM, antigen-processing machinery; CAR: chimeric antigen receptor; CHK1, checkpoint serine/threonine protein kinase; CIC, cancer-initiating cell; CRC, colorectal cancer; CTLA-4, cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen-4; GBM, glioblastoma multiforme; GDF-15, growth differentiation factor-15; CSPG4: chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan-4; IFN, interferon; IL-4, interleukin-4; IL-10, interleukin-10; IL-13, interleukin-13; IL-13α2, α2 chain of IL-13 receptor; mAb, monoclonal antibody; MDSC, myeloid-derived suppressor cell; MHC, major histocompatibility complex; PD-1, programmed death-1; PD-L1 programmed death ligand-1; PDK, 3-phosphoinositide-dependent protein kinase-1; PGE2, prostaglandin E2; STAT3, signal transducer and activator of transcription 3; TGFB-1, transforming growth factor beta-1; Treg, T regulatory cell.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cristina Maccalli
- a Department of Translational Medicine , Sidra Medical and Research Center , Doha , Qatar
| | - Giorgio Parmiani
- b Italian Network for Biotherapy, University Hospital of Siena , Siena , Italy
| | - Soldano Ferrone
- c Department of Surgery , Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School , Boston , MA , USA
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30
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Mennonna D, Maccalli C, Romano MC, Garavaglia C, Capocefalo F, Bordoni R, Severgnini M, De Bellis G, Sidney J, Sette A, Gori A, Longhi R, Braga M, Ghirardelli L, Baldari L, Orsenigo E, Albarello L, Zino E, Fleischhauer K, Mazzola G, Ferrero N, Amoroso A, Casorati G, Parmiani G, Dellabona P. T cell neoepitope discovery in colorectal cancer by high throughput profiling of somatic mutations in expressed genes. Gut 2017; 66:454-463. [PMID: 26681737 PMCID: PMC5534766 DOI: 10.1136/gutjnl-2015-309453] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2015] [Revised: 11/04/2015] [Accepted: 11/06/2015] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Patient-specific (unique) tumour antigens, encoded by somatically mutated cancer genes, generate neoepitopes that are implicated in the induction of tumour-controlling T cell responses. Recent advancements in massive DNA sequencing combined with robust T cell epitope predictions have allowed their systematic identification in several malignancies. DESIGN We undertook the identification of unique neoepitopes in colorectal cancers (CRCs) by using high-throughput sequencing of cDNAs expressed by standard cancer cell cultures, and by related cancer stem/initiating cells (CSCs) cultures, coupled with a reverse immunology approach not requiring human leukocyte antigen (HLA) allele-specific epitope predictions. RESULTS Several unique mutated antigens of CRC, shared by standard cancer and related CSC cultures, were identified by this strategy. CD8+ and CD4+ T cells, either autologous to the patient or derived from HLA-matched healthy donors, were readily expanded in vitro by peptides spanning different cancer mutations and specifically recognised differentiated cancer cells and CSC cultures, expressing the mutations. Neoepitope-specific CD8+ T cell frequency was also increased in a patient, compared with healthy donors, supporting the occurrence of clonal expansion in vivo. CONCLUSIONS These results provide a proof-of-concept approach for the identification of unique neoepitopes that are immunogenic in patients with CRC and can also target T cells against the most aggressive CSC component.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniele Mennonna
- Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Cristina Maccalli
- Division of Experimental Oncology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Michele C Romano
- Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Claudio Garavaglia
- Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Filippo Capocefalo
- Division of Experimental Oncology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Roberta Bordoni
- Institute for Biomedical Technologies, National Research Council, Segrate, Italy
| | - Marco Severgnini
- Institute for Biomedical Technologies, National Research Council, Segrate, Italy
| | - Gianluca De Bellis
- Institute for Biomedical Technologies, National Research Council, Segrate, Italy
| | - John Sidney
- La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Alessandro Sette
- La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Alessandro Gori
- Institute of Molecular Recognition Chemistry, National Research Council, Milan, Italy
| | - Renato Longhi
- Institute of Molecular Recognition Chemistry, National Research Council, Milan, Italy
| | - Marco Braga
- Department of Surgery, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Luca Ghirardelli
- Department of Surgery, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Ludovica Baldari
- Department of Surgery, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Elena Orsenigo
- Department of Surgery, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Luca Albarello
- Department of Pathology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milano, Italy
| | - Elisabetta Zino
- Unit of Molecular and Functional Immunogenetics, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Katharina Fleischhauer
- Unit of Molecular and Functional Immunogenetics, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy,Institute for Experimental Cellular Therapy, University Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Gina Mazzola
- Department of Medical Sciences, Center for Transplantation Biology and Immunogenetics, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - Norma Ferrero
- Department of Medical Sciences, Center for Transplantation Biology and Immunogenetics, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - Antonio Amoroso
- Department of Medical Sciences, Center for Transplantation Biology and Immunogenetics, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - Giulia Casorati
- Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Giorgio Parmiani
- Division of Experimental Oncology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Paolo Dellabona
- Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
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31
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Hendrickx W, Simeone I, Anjum S, Mokrab Y, Bertucci F, Finetti P, Curigliano G, Seliger B, Cerulo L, Tomei S, Delogu LG, Maccalli C, Wang E, Miller LD, Marincola FM, Ceccarelli M, Bedognetti D. Identification of genetic determinants of breast cancer immune phenotypes by integrative genome-scale analysis. Oncoimmunology 2017; 6:e1253654. [PMID: 28344865 PMCID: PMC5353940 DOI: 10.1080/2162402x.2016.1253654] [Citation(s) in RCA: 116] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2016] [Revised: 10/20/2016] [Accepted: 10/22/2016] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Cancer immunotherapy is revolutionizing the clinical management of several tumors, but has demonstrated limited activity in breast cancer. The development of more effective treatments is hindered by incomplete knowledge of the genetic determinant of immune responsiveness. To fill this gap, we mined copy number alteration, somatic mutation, and expression data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). By using RNA-sequencing data from 1,004 breast cancers, we defined distinct immune phenotypes characterized by progressive expression of transcripts previously associated with immune-mediated rejection. The T helper 1 (Th-1) phenotype (ICR4), which also displays upregulation of immune-regulatory transcripts such as PDL1, PD1, FOXP3, IDO1, and CTLA4, was associated with prolonged patients' survival. We validated these findings in an independent meta-cohort of 1,954 breast cancer gene expression data. Chromosome segment 4q21, which includes genes encoding for the Th-1 chemokines CXCL9-11, was significantly amplified only in the immune favorable phenotype (ICR4). The mutation and neoantigen load progressively decreased from ICR4 to ICR1 but could not fully explain immune phenotypic differences. Mutations of TP53 were enriched in the immune favorable phenotype (ICR4). Conversely, the presence of MAP3K1 and MAP2K4 mutations were tightly associated with an immune-unfavorable phenotype (ICR1). Using both the TCGA and the validation dataset, the degree of MAPK deregulation segregates breast tumors according to their immune disposition. These findings suggest that mutation-driven perturbations of MAPK pathways are linked to the negative regulation of intratumoral immune response in breast cancer. Modulations of MAPK pathways could be experimentally tested to enhance breast cancer immune sensitivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wouter Hendrickx
- Tumor Biology, Immunology, and Therapy Section, Division of Translational Medicine, Research Branch, Sidra Medical and Research Center , Doha, Qatar
| | - Ines Simeone
- Qatar Computing Research Institute, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Doha, Qatar; Department of Science and Technology, University of Sannio, Benevento, Italy
| | - Samreen Anjum
- Qatar Computing Research Institute, Hamad Bin Khalifa University , Doha, Qatar
| | - Younes Mokrab
- Division of Biomedical Informatics, Research Branch, Sidra Medical and Research Center , Doha, Qatar
| | - François Bertucci
- Département d'Oncologie Moléculaire, Center de Recherche en Cancérologie de Marseille (CRCM), Institut Paoli-Calmettes, INSERM UMR1068, CNRS UMR725, Marseille, France; Département d'Oncologie Médicale, CRCM, Institut Paoli-Calmettes, Marseille, France; Faculté de Médecine, Aix-Marseille Université, Marseille, France
| | - Pascal Finetti
- Département d'Oncologie Moléculaire, Center de Recherche en Cancérologie de Marseille (CRCM), Institut Paoli-Calmettes , INSERM UMR1068, CNRS UMR725 , Marseille, France
| | - Giuseppe Curigliano
- Division of Experimental Therapeutics, Division of Medical Oncology, European Institute of Oncology , Milan, Italy
| | - Barbara Seliger
- Institute of Medical Immunology, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg , Halle, Germany
| | - Luigi Cerulo
- Department of Science and Technology, University of Sannio, Benevento, Italy; BIOGEM Research Center, Ariano Irpino, Italy
| | - Sara Tomei
- Division of Translational Medicine, Research Branch, Sidra Medical and Research Center , Doha, Qatar
| | - Lucia Gemma Delogu
- Department of Chemistry and Pharmacy, University of Sassari , Sassari, Italy
| | - Cristina Maccalli
- Tumor Biology, Immunology, and Therapy Section, Division of Translational Medicine, Research Branch, Sidra Medical and Research Center , Doha, Qatar
| | - Ena Wang
- Division of Translational Medicine, Research Branch, Sidra Medical and Research Center , Doha, Qatar
| | - Lance D Miller
- Department of Cancer Biology, Wake Forest School of Medicine , Winston-Salem, NC, USA
| | - Francesco M Marincola
- Office of the Chief Research Officer (CRO), Research Branch, Sidra Medical and Research Center , Doha, Qatar
| | - Michele Ceccarelli
- Qatar Computing Research Institute, Hamad Bin Khalifa University , Doha, Qatar
| | - Davide Bedognetti
- Tumor Biology, Immunology, and Therapy Section, Division of Translational Medicine, Research Branch, Sidra Medical and Research Center , Doha, Qatar
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32
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Maio M, Bertocci E, Fazio C, Chiarucci C, Cutaia O, Scala E, Giacobini G, Lofiego MF, Fonsatti E, Maccalli C, Nicolay HJMG, Parmiani G. "Cancer Bio-Immunotherapy in Siena": Thirteenth Meeting of the Network Italiano per la Bioterapia dei Tumori (NIBIT), Siena, Italy, October 8-10, 2015. Cancer Immunol Immunother 2016; 65:1423-1431. [PMID: 27619513 PMCID: PMC11029289 DOI: 10.1007/s00262-016-1899-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2016] [Accepted: 08/31/2016] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Michele Maio
- Medical Oncology and Immunotherapy, University Hospital of Siena, Istituto Toscano Tumori, V.le Bracci, 16, Siena, Italy.
- Network Italiano per la bioterapia dei tumori (NIBIT), Siena, Italy.
| | - Erica Bertocci
- Medical Oncology and Immunotherapy, University Hospital of Siena, Istituto Toscano Tumori, V.le Bracci, 16, Siena, Italy
| | - Carolina Fazio
- Medical Oncology and Immunotherapy, University Hospital of Siena, Istituto Toscano Tumori, V.le Bracci, 16, Siena, Italy
- University of Siena, Siena, Italy
| | - Carla Chiarucci
- Medical Oncology and Immunotherapy, University Hospital of Siena, Istituto Toscano Tumori, V.le Bracci, 16, Siena, Italy
- University of Siena, Siena, Italy
| | - Ornella Cutaia
- Medical Oncology and Immunotherapy, University Hospital of Siena, Istituto Toscano Tumori, V.le Bracci, 16, Siena, Italy
- University of Siena, Siena, Italy
| | - Elisa Scala
- Medical Oncology and Immunotherapy, University Hospital of Siena, Istituto Toscano Tumori, V.le Bracci, 16, Siena, Italy
| | - Gianluca Giacobini
- Medical Oncology and Immunotherapy, University Hospital of Siena, Istituto Toscano Tumori, V.le Bracci, 16, Siena, Italy
- University of Siena, Siena, Italy
| | - Maria Fortunata Lofiego
- Medical Oncology and Immunotherapy, University Hospital of Siena, Istituto Toscano Tumori, V.le Bracci, 16, Siena, Italy
- University of Siena, Siena, Italy
| | - Ester Fonsatti
- Medical Oncology and Immunotherapy, University Hospital of Siena, Istituto Toscano Tumori, V.le Bracci, 16, Siena, Italy
| | - Cristina Maccalli
- Medical Oncology and Immunotherapy, University Hospital of Siena, Istituto Toscano Tumori, V.le Bracci, 16, Siena, Italy
- Network Italiano per la bioterapia dei tumori (NIBIT), Siena, Italy
| | | | - Giorgio Parmiani
- Medical Oncology and Immunotherapy, University Hospital of Siena, Istituto Toscano Tumori, V.le Bracci, 16, Siena, Italy
- Network Italiano per la bioterapia dei tumori (NIBIT), Siena, Italy
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33
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Guennoun A, Sidahmed H, Maccalli C, Seliger B, Marincola FM, Bedognetti D. Harnessing the immune system for the treatment of melanoma: current status and future prospects. Expert Rev Clin Immunol 2016; 12:879-93. [PMID: 27070898 DOI: 10.1080/1744666x.2016.1176529] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
When malignant melanoma is diagnosed early, surgical resection is the intervention of choice and is often curative, but many patients present with unresectable disease at later stages. Due to its complex etiology paired with well-documented chemoresistance and high metastatic potential, patients with advanced melanoma had a poor prognosis, and the treatment of this disease remained unsatisfactory for many years. Recently, targeted therapy, immune checkpoint inhibition, or combinatory approaches have revolutionized the therapeutic options of melanoma allowing considerable improvement in disease control and survival. In this review we will summarize these novel therapeutic strategies with particular focus on combinatory immunotherapies and further discuss recent data derived from immunogenomic studies and potential options to improve the therapeutic efficacy of immune modulatory approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Guennoun
- a Division of Translational Medicine , Research Branch, Sidra Medical and Research Center , Doha , Qatar
| | - Heba Sidahmed
- a Division of Translational Medicine , Research Branch, Sidra Medical and Research Center , Doha , Qatar
| | - Cristina Maccalli
- b Tumor Biology, Immunology and Therapy Section, Division of Translational Medicine , Research Branch, Sidra Medical and Research Center , Doha , Qatar
| | - Barbara Seliger
- c Institute of Medical Immunology , Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg , Halle , Germany
| | - Francesco M Marincola
- d Office of the Chief Research Officer (CRO) , Research Branch, Sidra Medical and Research Center , Doha , Qatar
| | - Davide Bedognetti
- b Tumor Biology, Immunology and Therapy Section, Division of Translational Medicine , Research Branch, Sidra Medical and Research Center , Doha , Qatar
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Abstract
Immune checkpoints are crucial for the maintenance of self-tolerance and for the modulation of immune responses in order to minimize tissue damage. Tumor cells take advantage of these mechanisms to evade immune recognition. A significant proportion of tumors, including breast cancers, can express co-inhibitory molecules that are important formediating the escape from T cell-mediated immune surveillance. The interaction of inhibitory receptors with their ligands can be blocked by specific molecules. Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) directed against the cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen-4 (CTLA4) and, more recently, against the programmed cell death protein 1 (PD1), have been approved for the therapy of melanoma (anti-CTLA4 and anti-PD1 mAbs) and non-small cell lung cancer (anti-PD1 mAbs). Moreover, inhibition of PD1 signaling has shown extremely promising signs of activity in breast cancer. An increasing number of molecules directed against other immune checkpoints are currently under clinical development. In this review, we summarize the evidence supporting the implementation of checkpoint inhibition in breast cancer by reviewing in detail data on PD-L1 expression and its regulation. In addition, opportunities to boost anti-tumor immunity in breast cancer with checkpoint inhibitor-based immunotherapies alone and in combination with other treatment options will be discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Davide Bedognetti
- Tumor Biology, Immunology, and Therapy Section, Division of Translational Medicine, Sidra Medical and Research Center, Doha, Qatar
| | - Cristina Maccalli
- Tumor Biology, Immunology, and Therapy Section, Division of Translational Medicine, Sidra Medical and Research Center, Doha, Qatar
| | - Salha B J Al Bader
- National Center for Cancer Care and Research (NCCCR), and Hamad General Hospital, Doha, Qatar
| | - Francesco M Marincola
- Office of the Chief Research Officer (CRO), Sidra Medical and Research Center, Doha, Qatar
| | - Barbara Seliger
- Institute of Medical Immunology, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle/Saale, Germany
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Yuan J, Hegde PS, Clynes R, Foukas PG, Harari A, Kleen TO, Kvistborg P, Maccalli C, Maecker HT, Page DB, Robins H, Song W, Stack EC, Wang E, Whiteside TL, Zhao Y, Zwierzina H, Butterfield LH, Fox BA. Novel technologies and emerging biomarkers for personalized cancer immunotherapy. J Immunother Cancer 2016. [PMID: 26788324 DOI: 10.1186/s40425-016-0107-3.] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
The culmination of over a century's work to understand the role of the immune system in tumor control has led to the recent advances in cancer immunotherapies that have resulted in durable clinical responses in patients with a variety of malignancies. Cancer immunotherapies are rapidly changing traditional treatment paradigms and expanding the therapeutic landscape for cancer patients. However, despite the current success of these therapies, not all patients respond to immunotherapy and even those that do often experience toxicities. Thus, there is a growing need to identify predictive and prognostic biomarkers that enhance our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the complex interactions between the immune system and cancer. Therefore, the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) reconvened an Immune Biomarkers Task Force to review state of the art technologies, identify current hurdlers, and make recommendations for the field. As a product of this task force, Working Group 2 (WG2), consisting of international experts from academia and industry, assembled to identify and discuss promising technologies for biomarker discovery and validation. Thus, this WG2 consensus paper will focus on the current status of emerging biomarkers for immune checkpoint blockade therapy and discuss novel technologies as well as high dimensional data analysis platforms that will be pivotal for future biomarker research. In addition, this paper will include a brief overview of the current challenges with recommendations for future biomarker discovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jianda Yuan
- Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, 1275 New York Ave Box 386, New York, NY 10065 USA
| | - Priti S Hegde
- Genentech, Inc., 1 DNA Way South, San Francisco, CA 94080 USA
| | - Raphael Clynes
- Bristol-Myers Squibb, 3551 Lawrenceville Road, Princeton, NJ 08648 USA
| | - Periklis G Foukas
- Center of Experimental Therapeutics and Ludwig Institute of Cancer Research, University Hospital of Lausanne, Rue du Bugnon 21, 1011 Lausanne, Switzerland ; Department of Pathology, University of Athens Medical School, "Attikon" University Hospital, 1st Rimini St, 12462 Haidari, Greece
| | - Alexandre Harari
- Center of Experimental Therapeutics and Ludwig Institute of Cancer Research, University Hospital of Lausanne, Rue du Bugnon 21, 1011 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Thomas O Kleen
- Epiontis GmbH, Rudower Chaussee 29, 12489 Berlin, Germany
| | - Pia Kvistborg
- Netherlands Cancer Institute, Postbus 90203, 1006 BE Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Cristina Maccalli
- Italian Network for Biotherapy of Tumors (NIBIT)-Laboratory, c/o Medical Oncology and Immunotherapy, University Hospital of Siena, V.le Bracci,16, Siena, 53100 Italy
| | - Holden T Maecker
- Stanford University Medical Center, 299 Campus Drive, Stanford, CA 94303 USA
| | - David B Page
- Earle A. Chiles Research Institute, Providence Cancer Center, 4805 NE Glisan Street, Portland, OR 97213 USA
| | - Harlan Robins
- Adaptive Technologies, Inc., 1551 Eastlake Avenue East Suite 200, Seattle, WA 98102 USA
| | - Wenru Song
- AstraZeneca, One MedImmune Way, Gaithersburg, MD 20878 USA
| | | | - Ena Wang
- Sidra Medical and Research Center, PO Box 26999, Doha, Qatar
| | - Theresa L Whiteside
- University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, 5117 Centre Ave, Suite 1.27, Pittsburgh, PA 15213 USA
| | - Yingdong Zhao
- National Cancer Institute, 9609 Medical Center Drive, Rockville, MD 20850 USA
| | - Heinz Zwierzina
- Innsbruck Medical University, Medizinische Klinik, Anichstrasse 35, Innsbruck, A-6020 Austria
| | - Lisa H Butterfield
- Department of Medicine, Surgery and Immunology, University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, 5117 Centre Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213 USA
| | - Bernard A Fox
- Earle A. Chiles Research Institute, Providence Cancer Center, 4805 NE Glisan Street, Portland, OR 97213 USA
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36
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Yuan J, Hegde PS, Clynes R, Foukas PG, Harari A, Kleen TO, Kvistborg P, Maccalli C, Maecker HT, Page DB, Robins H, Song W, Stack EC, Wang E, Whiteside TL, Zhao Y, Zwierzina H, Butterfield LH, Fox BA. Novel technologies and emerging biomarkers for personalized cancer immunotherapy. J Immunother Cancer 2016; 4:3. [PMID: 26788324 PMCID: PMC4717548 DOI: 10.1186/s40425-016-0107-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 155] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.4] [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] [Received: 11/19/2015] [Accepted: 01/05/2016] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The culmination of over a century’s work to understand the role of the immune system in tumor control has led to the recent advances in cancer immunotherapies that have resulted in durable clinical responses in patients with a variety of malignancies. Cancer immunotherapies are rapidly changing traditional treatment paradigms and expanding the therapeutic landscape for cancer patients. However, despite the current success of these therapies, not all patients respond to immunotherapy and even those that do often experience toxicities. Thus, there is a growing need to identify predictive and prognostic biomarkers that enhance our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the complex interactions between the immune system and cancer. Therefore, the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) reconvened an Immune Biomarkers Task Force to review state of the art technologies, identify current hurdlers, and make recommendations for the field. As a product of this task force, Working Group 2 (WG2), consisting of international experts from academia and industry, assembled to identify and discuss promising technologies for biomarker discovery and validation. Thus, this WG2 consensus paper will focus on the current status of emerging biomarkers for immune checkpoint blockade therapy and discuss novel technologies as well as high dimensional data analysis platforms that will be pivotal for future biomarker research. In addition, this paper will include a brief overview of the current challenges with recommendations for future biomarker discovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jianda Yuan
- Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, 1275 New York Ave Box 386, New York, NY 10065 USA
| | - Priti S Hegde
- Genentech, Inc., 1 DNA Way South, San Francisco, CA 94080 USA
| | - Raphael Clynes
- Bristol-Myers Squibb, 3551 Lawrenceville Road, Princeton, NJ 08648 USA
| | - Periklis G Foukas
- Center of Experimental Therapeutics and Ludwig Institute of Cancer Research, University Hospital of Lausanne, Rue du Bugnon 21, 1011 Lausanne, Switzerland ; Department of Pathology, University of Athens Medical School, "Attikon" University Hospital, 1st Rimini St, 12462 Haidari, Greece
| | - Alexandre Harari
- Center of Experimental Therapeutics and Ludwig Institute of Cancer Research, University Hospital of Lausanne, Rue du Bugnon 21, 1011 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Thomas O Kleen
- Epiontis GmbH, Rudower Chaussee 29, 12489 Berlin, Germany
| | - Pia Kvistborg
- Netherlands Cancer Institute, Postbus 90203, 1006 BE Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Cristina Maccalli
- Italian Network for Biotherapy of Tumors (NIBIT)-Laboratory, c/o Medical Oncology and Immunotherapy, University Hospital of Siena, V.le Bracci,16, Siena, 53100 Italy
| | - Holden T Maecker
- Stanford University Medical Center, 299 Campus Drive, Stanford, CA 94303 USA
| | - David B Page
- Earle A. Chiles Research Institute, Providence Cancer Center, 4805 NE Glisan Street, Portland, OR 97213 USA
| | - Harlan Robins
- Adaptive Technologies, Inc., 1551 Eastlake Avenue East Suite 200, Seattle, WA 98102 USA
| | - Wenru Song
- AstraZeneca, One MedImmune Way, Gaithersburg, MD 20878 USA
| | | | - Ena Wang
- Sidra Medical and Research Center, PO Box 26999, Doha, Qatar
| | - Theresa L Whiteside
- University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, 5117 Centre Ave, Suite 1.27, Pittsburgh, PA 15213 USA
| | - Yingdong Zhao
- National Cancer Institute, 9609 Medical Center Drive, Rockville, MD 20850 USA
| | - Heinz Zwierzina
- Innsbruck Medical University, Medizinische Klinik, Anichstrasse 35, Innsbruck, A-6020 Austria
| | - Lisa H Butterfield
- Department of Medicine, Surgery and Immunology, University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, 5117 Centre Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213 USA
| | - Bernard A Fox
- Earle A. Chiles Research Institute, Providence Cancer Center, 4805 NE Glisan Street, Portland, OR 97213 USA
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Maio M, Bertocci E, Pilla L, Fazio C, Chiarucci C, Cutaia O, Fonsatti E, Maccalli C, Parmiani G. "Cancer Bio-Immunotherapy in Siena": Twelfth Meeting of the Network Italiano per la Bioterapia dei Tumori (NIBIT), Siena, Italy, October 9-11, 2014. Cancer Immunol Immunother 2016; 65:119-26. [PMID: 25944004 PMCID: PMC11028921 DOI: 10.1007/s00262-015-1699-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2015] [Accepted: 04/12/2015] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Michele Maio
- Medical Oncology and Immunotherapy, University Hospital of Siena, Istituto Toscano Tumori, V.le Bracci, 16, Siena, Italy.
| | - Erica Bertocci
- Medical Oncology and Immunotherapy, University Hospital of Siena, Istituto Toscano Tumori, V.le Bracci, 16, Siena, Italy
| | - Lorenzo Pilla
- Medical Oncology and Immunotherapy, University Hospital of Siena, Istituto Toscano Tumori, V.le Bracci, 16, Siena, Italy
| | - Carolina Fazio
- Medical Oncology and Immunotherapy, University Hospital of Siena, Istituto Toscano Tumori, V.le Bracci, 16, Siena, Italy
- University of Siena, Siena, Italy
| | - Carla Chiarucci
- Medical Oncology and Immunotherapy, University Hospital of Siena, Istituto Toscano Tumori, V.le Bracci, 16, Siena, Italy
- University of Siena, Siena, Italy
| | - Ornella Cutaia
- Medical Oncology and Immunotherapy, University Hospital of Siena, Istituto Toscano Tumori, V.le Bracci, 16, Siena, Italy
- University of Siena, Siena, Italy
| | - Ester Fonsatti
- Medical Oncology and Immunotherapy, University Hospital of Siena, Istituto Toscano Tumori, V.le Bracci, 16, Siena, Italy
| | - Cristina Maccalli
- Medical Oncology and Immunotherapy, University Hospital of Siena, Istituto Toscano Tumori, V.le Bracci, 16, Siena, Italy
- Italian Network for Tumor Bio-therapy (NIBIT) Laboratory, Siena, Italy
| | - Giorgio Parmiani
- Medical Oncology and Immunotherapy, University Hospital of Siena, Istituto Toscano Tumori, V.le Bracci, 16, Siena, Italy
- Italian Network for Tumor Bio-therapy (NIBIT) Laboratory, Siena, Italy
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Abstract
Interest for cancer vaccination started more than 30 years ago after the demonstration that both in animal models and later on in patients it is possible to generate anti-tumor immune responses. The clinical application of this knowledge, however, was disappointing. In this review we summarize results on peptides epitopes recognized by T cells that have been studied thanks to their easy synthesis and the lack of significant side effects when administered in-vivo. To improve the clinical efficacy, peptides were modified in their aminoacid sequence to augment their immunogenicity. Peptides vaccines were recently shown to induce a high frequency of immune response in patients that were accompanied by clinical efficacy. These data are discussed at the light of recent progression of immunotherapy caused by the addition of check-point antibodies thus providing a general picture of the potential therapeutic efficacy of the peptide-based vaccines and their combination with other biological agents.
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Maccalli C, Giannarelli D, Capocefalo F, Pilla L, Fonsatti E, Di Giacomo AM, Parmiani G, Maio M. Immunological markers and clinical outcome of advanced melanoma patients receiving ipilimumab plus fotemustine in the NIBIT-M1 study. Oncoimmunology 2015; 5:e1071007. [PMID: 27057436 DOI: 10.1080/2162402x.2015.1071007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2015] [Revised: 07/04/2015] [Accepted: 07/05/2015] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Clinical activity was observed in metastatic melanoma (MM) patients treated with ipilimumab (IPI) combined with fotemustine (FTM) in the phase II NIBIT-M1 study. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and serum were collected from MM patients at pre- and at weeks 12 and 24 post-treatment. A comprehensive phenotypic and functional immunomonitoring of circulating T cells, and the detection of soluble immunoregulatory molecules was carried out and correlated with clinical outcome. The frequency at baseline and along the treatment of circulating T central memory cells expressing activation/differentiation markers, such as CD3+CD4+CD45RO+BTLA+, CD3+CD4+4-1BB or Th17 lymphocytes correlated with the clinical outcome of MM patients. Moreover, either the absence or the presence of soluble NKG2D ligands (ULBP-1 or -2) at baseline in the serum of MM patients enabled to discriminate subjects with long-term survival (median overall survival, (OS) = 33.6 mo for ULBP-1 and -2) from poor survivors (OS = 9.8 or 6.6 mo, respectively). Conversely, no significant association between the levels of soluble MICA, MICB and ULBP-3 and the clinical outcome of patients was observed. An inverse correlation between circulating levels of these molecules at baseline and frequency of either CD3+CD4+CD45RO+BTLA+ or Th17 or CD3+CD4+4-1BB+ T cells occurred in patients with a favorable clinical outcome. The simultaneous monitoring of different immune parameters, though validation in a large cohort of patients is needed, allowed to identify an association between phenotypic and soluble markers representing a possible predictive immunological signature for the clinical activity of IPI plus FTM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cristina Maccalli
- Italian Network for Biotherapy of Tumors-(NIBIT)-Laboratory, Siena, Italy; Medical Oncology and Immunotherapy, University Hospital of Siena, Istituto Toscano Tumori, Siena, Italy; Unit of Immuno-biotherapy of Melanoma and Solid Tumors, San Raffaele Foundation Center, Milan, Italy
| | - Diana Giannarelli
- Unit of Statistics, Regina Elena National Cancer Institute , Rome, Italy
| | - Filippo Capocefalo
- Unit of Immuno-biotherapy of Melanoma and Solid Tumors, San Raffaele Foundation Center , Milan, Italy
| | - Lorenzo Pilla
- Medical Oncology and Immunotherapy, University Hospital of Siena, Istituto Toscano Tumori, Siena, Italy; Unit of Immuno-biotherapy of Melanoma and Solid Tumors, San Raffaele Foundation Center, Milan, Italy
| | - Ester Fonsatti
- Medical Oncology and Immunotherapy, University Hospital of Siena, Istituto Toscano Tumori , Siena, Italy
| | - Anna Maria Di Giacomo
- Medical Oncology and Immunotherapy, University Hospital of Siena, Istituto Toscano Tumori , Siena, Italy
| | - Giorgio Parmiani
- Italian Network for Biotherapy of Tumors-(NIBIT)-Laboratory, Siena, Italy; Medical Oncology and Immunotherapy, University Hospital of Siena, Istituto Toscano Tumori, Siena, Italy; Unit of Immuno-biotherapy of Melanoma and Solid Tumors, San Raffaele Foundation Center, Milan, Italy
| | - Michele Maio
- Medical Oncology and Immunotherapy, University Hospital of Siena, Istituto Toscano Tumori , Siena, Italy
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Parmiani G, Maccalli C, Maio M. Integrating Immune Checkpoint Blockade with Anti-Neo/Mutated Antigens Reactivity to Increase the Clinical Outcome of Immunotherapy. Vaccines (Basel) 2015; 3:420-8. [PMID: 26343195 PMCID: PMC4494352 DOI: 10.3390/vaccines3020420] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2015] [Revised: 05/11/2015] [Accepted: 05/13/2015] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Antibodies to immune checkpoints have entered the clinical arena and have been shown to provide a clinical benefit for metastatic melanoma and, possibly, for other tumors as well. In this review paper we summarize this therapeutic activity and underline the functional mechanisms that may be involved. Among them, we discuss the so far neglected role of tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) deriving from tumor somatic mutations and summarize the results of recent trials showing the immunogenic strength of such TAAs which can be specifically targeted by T cells activated by immune checkpoint antibodies. Finally we discuss new immunotherapy approaches that involve the combination of self/shared- or neo-TAAs-based vaccines and immune checkpoint blockade antibodies, to increase the clinical response of metastatic melanoma patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giorgio Parmiani
- Italian Network for Bio-therapy of Tumors-(NIBIT)-Laboratory, c/o University Hospital of Siena, V. le Bracci, 16, Siena 53100, Italy.
- Division of Medical Oncology and Immunotherapy, University Hospital of Siena, V. le Bracci, 16, Siena 53100, Italy.
| | - Cristina Maccalli
- Italian Network for Bio-therapy of Tumors-(NIBIT)-Laboratory, c/o University Hospital of Siena, V. le Bracci, 16, Siena 53100, Italy.
- Division of Medical Oncology and Immunotherapy, University Hospital of Siena, V. le Bracci, 16, Siena 53100, Italy.
| | - Michele Maio
- Division of Medical Oncology and Immunotherapy, University Hospital of Siena, V. le Bracci, 16, Siena 53100, Italy.
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Di Giacomo AM, Annesi D, Ascierto PA, Calabrò L, Chiarion-Sileni V, Danielli R, Del Vecchio M, Ferraresi V, Ferrucci PF, Fonsatti E, Guida M, Giannarelli D, Guidoboni M, Mandalà M, Quaglino P, Queirolo P, Maccalli C, Parmiani G, Maio M. A randomized, phase III study of fotemustine versus the combination of fotemustine and ipilimumab or the combination of ipilimumab and nivolumab in patients with metastatic melanoma with brain metastasis: the NIBIT-M2 trial. J Clin Oncol 2015. [DOI: 10.1200/jco.2015.33.15_suppl.tps9090] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Luana Calabrò
- Medical Oncology and Immunotherapy, University Hospital of Siena, Siena, Italy
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Ester Fonsatti
- Medical Oncology and Immunotherapy, University Hospital of Siena, Siena, Italy
| | | | | | - Massimo Guidoboni
- Immunotherapy and Somatic Cell Therapy Lab, IRCCS-IRST, Meldola, Italy
| | | | - Pietro Quaglino
- Department of Medical Sciences, Dermatologic Clinic, University of Torino, Torino, Italy, Torino, Italy
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Di Giacomo A, Ascierto P, Queirolo P, Pilla L, Ridolfi R, Santinami M, Testori A, Simeone E, Guidoboni M, Maurichi A, Orgiano L, Spadola G, Del Vecchio M, Danielli R, Calabrò L, Annesi D, Giannarelli D, Maccalli C, Fonsatti E, Parmiani G, Maio M. Three-year follow-up of advanced melanoma patients who received ipilimumab plus fotemustine in the Italian Network for Tumor Biotherapy (NIBIT)-M1 phase II study. Ann Oncol 2015; 26:798-803. [DOI: 10.1093/annonc/mdu577] [Citation(s) in RCA: 103] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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Trajanoski Z, Maccalli C, Mennonna D, Casorati G, Parmiani G, Dellabona P. Somatically mutated tumor antigens in the quest for a more efficacious patient-oriented immunotherapy of cancer. Cancer Immunol Immunother 2015; 64:99-104. [PMID: 25164877 PMCID: PMC11028785 DOI: 10.1007/s00262-014-1599-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2014] [Accepted: 08/11/2014] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
Abstract
Although cancer immunotherapy shows efficacy with adoptive T cell therapy (ACT) and antibody-based immune checkpoint blockade, efficacious therapeutic vaccination of cancer patients with tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) remains largely unmet. Current cancer vaccines utilize nonmutated shared TAAs that may have suboptimal immunogenicity. Experimental evidence underscores the strong immunogenicity of unique TAAs derived from somatically mutated cancer proteins, whose massive characterization has been precluded until recently by technical limitations. The development of cost-effective, high-throughput DNA sequencing approaches makes now possible the rapid identification of all the somatic mutations contained in a cancer cell genome. This method, combined with robust bioinformatics platforms for T cell epitope prediction and established reverse immunology approaches, provides us with an integrated strategy to identify patient-specific unique TAAs in a relatively short time, compatible with their potential use in the clinic. Hence, it is now for the first time possible to quantitatively define the patient's unique tumor antigenome and exploit it for vaccination, possibly in combination with ACT and/or immune checkpoint blockade to further increase immunotherapy efficacy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zlatko Trajanoski
- Biocenter, Division for Bioinformatics, Innsbruck Medical University, Innrain 80, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Cristina Maccalli
- NIBIT Laboratory, Division of Medical Oncology and Immunotherapy, Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria, Siena, Italy
| | - Daniele Mennonna
- Experimental Immunology Unit, Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Via Olgettina, 58, 20132 Milan, Italy
| | - Giulia Casorati
- Experimental Immunology Unit, Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Via Olgettina, 58, 20132 Milan, Italy
| | - Giorgio Parmiani
- Solid Tumor Immuno-Biotherapy Unit, Division of Molecular Oncology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Via Olgettina, 58, 20132 Milan, Italy
| | - Paolo Dellabona
- Experimental Immunology Unit, Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Via Olgettina, 58, 20132 Milan, Italy
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Abstract
Cells with "stemness" and tumor-initiating properties have been isolated from both hematological and solid tumors. These cells denominated as cancer stem cells (CSCs), representing rare populations within tumors, have the ability to metastasize and are resistant to standard therapies and immunotherapy. Heterogeneity and plasticity in the phenotype of CSCs have been described in relation to their tissue origin. Few definitive markers have been isolated for CSCs from human solid tumors, limiting their usage for in vivo identification of these cells. Nevertheless, progress in the emerging CSCs concept has been achieved gaining, at least for some type of tumors, their biological and immunological characterization. The recent identification of molecules and signaling pathways that are up-regulated or aberrantly induced in CSCs allowed the development of small agents for specifically targeting of CSCs. A general low immunogenic profile has been reported for CSCs with, in some cases, the identification of the mechanisms responsible of the impairment of cell-mediated immune responses. These concepts are discussed in the context of this review. Although CSCs still need to be fully characterized, potential candidate markers and/or signaling pathways, to be exploited for the design of novel CSC-targeting therapeutic strategies, are described in this review.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cristina Maccalli
- Unit of Immuno-biotherapy of Melanoma and Solid Tumors, San Raffaele Foundation Centre, Milan, Italy,
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Parmiani G, Pilla L, Corti A, Doglioni C, Cimminiello C, Bellone M, Parolini D, Russo V, Capocefalo F, Maccalli C. A pilot Phase I study combining peptide-based vaccination and NGR-hTNF vessel targeting therapy in metastatic melanoma. Oncoimmunology 2014; 3:e963406. [PMID: 25941591 DOI: 10.4161/21624011.2014.963406] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2014] [Accepted: 09/04/2014] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Administration of NGR-TNF, a tumor vessel-targeting and tumor necrosis factor α TNFα) peptide conjugate, with immunotherapy has been shown to inhibit tumor growth in mice. Thus, we planned a Phase I pilot clinical trial to assess safety, immune and clinical response of this combination treatment for advanced melanoma. NA17.A2 and MAGE-3.A1 peptides were used as vaccine. HLA-A*0201 or HLA-A*01 metastatic melanoma patients received human NGR-hTNF i.v. alternating with s.c. weekly injections of either of the peptides emulsified in Montanide. The T-cell response was assessed ex-vivo using peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) before, during and after therapy. The serum level of chromogranin A (CgA), soluble TNF receptors (sTNFR1/2), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and MIP-1β and MCP-1 chemokines, was determined. In 3 subjects, pre- and post-treatment tumor lesions were examined by immunohistochemistry. Clinically, chills were observed in 4 patients during NGR-hTNF infusion and erythema at vaccination site was seen in 7 patients. T-cell response against the vaccine or against other melanoma-associated antigens was detectable after treatment in 6 out of 7 tested patients. Low level or reduction of CgA and sTNFR and increase of MIP-1β and MCP-1 were found in patients sera. In the lesions examined the immune infiltrate was scanty but macrophage number increased in post-therapy lesions. From a clinical standpoint, a long term survival (>4 months) was found in 6 out of 8 evaluable patients (4, 4, 7, 11, 23+, 25+, 25+, 29+ months). The combination of NGR-hTNF and vaccine in metastatic melanoma patients was well tolerated, often associated with an ex-vivo T cell response and long-term overall survival. These findings warrant confirmation in a larger group of patients.
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Key Words
- APC, antigen presenting cell
- CT, cancer/testis
- CgA, chromogranin A
- DFS, disease-free survival
- MAA, melanoma-associated antigens
- MCP-1, macrophage chemoattractant protein 1
- MIP-1β, macrophage inflammatory protein 1β; OS, overall survival
- PBMC, peripheral blood mononuclear cell
- PD, progression of disease
- PFS, progression-free survival
- RR, response rate
- T cells
- TNFα, tumor necrosis factor α
- anti-vascular target therapy
- combination therapy
- inflammatory cytokines
- melanoma
- peptide-based vaccines
- sTNFR, soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor
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Affiliation(s)
- Giorgio Parmiani
- Unit of Immuno-biotherapy of Melanoma and Solid Tumors; San Raffaele Foundation Research Institute ; Via Olgettina , Milan
| | - Lorenzo Pilla
- Unit of Immuno-biotherapy of Melanoma and Solid Tumors; San Raffaele Foundation Research Institute ; Via Olgettina , Milan
| | - Angelo Corti
- Unit of Tumor Biology and Vascular Targeting; San Raffaele Foundation Research Institute ; Via Olgettina , Milan
| | - Claudio Doglioni
- Unit of Pathology; San Raffaele Foundation Research Institute ; Via Olgettina , Milan
| | - Carolina Cimminiello
- Unit of Immuno-biotherapy of Melanoma and Solid Tumors; San Raffaele Foundation Research Institute ; Via Olgettina , Milan
| | - Matteo Bellone
- Unit of Cellular Immunology; San Raffaele Foundation Research Institute ; Via Olgettina , Milan
| | - Danilo Parolini
- Unit of Gastrointestinal Surgery; San Raffaele Foundation Research Institute ; Via Olgettina , Milan
| | - Vincenzo Russo
- Unit of Cancer Gene Therapy; San Raffaele Foundation Research Institute ; Via Olgettina , Milan
| | - Filippo Capocefalo
- Unit of Immuno-biotherapy of Melanoma and Solid Tumors; San Raffaele Foundation Research Institute ; Via Olgettina , Milan
| | - Cristina Maccalli
- Unit of Immuno-biotherapy of Melanoma and Solid Tumors; San Raffaele Foundation Research Institute ; Via Olgettina , Milan
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Parmiani G, Cimminiello C, Maccalli C. Increasing immunogenicity of cancer vaccines to improve their clinical outcome. Expert Rev Vaccines 2014; 12:1111-3. [PMID: 24124873 DOI: 10.1586/14760584.2013.839274] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Giorgio Parmiani
- Unit of Immuno-Biotherapy of Melanoma and Solid Tumors, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milano, Italy
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Maccalli C, Zambon EZE, Capocefalo FCF, Parmiani GPG. S7. KEYNOTE LECTURE: Immunobiological properties of the human cancer stem cells. J Immunother Cancer 2014. [PMCID: PMC4072430 DOI: 10.1186/2051-1426-2-s2-i4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
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Volonté A, Di Tomaso T, Spinelli M, Todaro M, Sanvito F, Albarello L, Bissolati M, Ghirardelli L, Orsenigo E, Ferrone S, Doglioni C, Stassi G, Dellabona P, Staudacher C, Parmiani G, Maccalli C. Cancer-initiating cells from colorectal cancer patients escape from T cell-mediated immunosurveillance in vitro through membrane-bound IL-4. J Immunol 2013; 192:523-32. [PMID: 24277698 DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.1301342] [Citation(s) in RCA: 86] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Cancer-initiating cells (CICs) that are responsible for tumor initiation, propagation, and resistance to standard therapies have been isolated from human solid tumors, including colorectal cancer (CRC). The aim of this study was to obtain an immunological profile of CRC-derived CICs and to identify CIC-associated target molecules for T cell immunotherapy. We have isolated cells with CIC properties along with their putative non-CIC autologous counterparts from human primary CRC tissues. These CICs have been shown to display "tumor-initiating/stemness" properties, including the expression of CIC-associated markers (e.g., CD44, CD24, ALDH-1, EpCAM, Lgr5), multipotency, and tumorigenicity following injection in immunodeficient mice. The immune profile of these cells was assessed by phenotype analysis and by in vitro stimulation of PBMCs with CICs as a source of Ags. CICs, compared with non-CIC counterparts, showed weak immunogenicity. This feature correlated with the expression of high levels of immunomodulatory molecules, such as IL-4, and with CIC-mediated inhibitory activity for anti-tumor T cell responses. CIC-associated IL-4 was found to be responsible for this negative function, which requires cell-to-cell contact with T lymphocytes and which is impaired by blocking IL-4 signaling. In addition, the CRC-associated Ag COA-1 was found to be expressed by CICs and to represent, in an autologous setting, a target molecule for anti-tumor T cells. Our study provides relevant information that may contribute to designing new immunotherapy protocols to target CICs in CRC patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Volonté
- Unit of Immuno-Biotherapy of Melanoma and Solid Tumors, San Raffaele Foundation Centre, 20132 Milan, Italy
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Maccalli C, Nicolay H, Capocefalo F, Fonsatti E, Chiarucci C, Cutaia O, Giannarelli D, Parmiani G, Di Giacomo AM, Maio M. Immune correlates of metastatic melanoma patients treated with ipilimumab in combination with fotemustine in the phase II NIBIT-M1 study. J Immunother Cancer 2013. [PMCID: PMC3991089 DOI: 10.1186/2051-1426-1-s1-p107] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
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Tallerico R, Todaro M, Di Franco S, Maccalli C, Garofalo C, Sottile R, Palmieri C, Tirinato L, Pangigadde PN, La Rocca R, Mandelboim O, Stassi G, Di Fabrizio E, Parmiani G, Moretta A, Dieli F, Kärre K, Carbone E. Human NK cells selective targeting of colon cancer-initiating cells: a role for natural cytotoxicity receptors and MHC class I molecules. J Immunol 2013; 190:2381-90. [PMID: 23345327 DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.1201542] [Citation(s) in RCA: 189] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Tumor cell populations have been recently proposed to be composed of two compartments: tumor-initiating cells characterized by a slow and asymmetrical growth, and the "differentiated" cancer cells with a fast and symmetrical growth. Cancer stem cells or cancer-initiating cells (CICs) play a crucial role in tumor recurrence. The resistance of CICs to drugs and irradiation often allows them to survive traditional therapy. NK cells are potent cytotoxic lymphocytes that can recognize tumor cells. In this study, we have analyzed the NK cell recognition of tumor target cells derived from the two cancer cell compartments of colon adenocarcinoma lesions. Our data demonstrate that freshly purified allogeneic NK cells can recognize and kill colorectal carcinoma-derived CICs whereas the non-CIC counterpart of the tumors (differentiated tumor cells), either autologous or allogeneic, is less susceptible to NK cells. This difference in the NK cell susceptibility correlates with higher expression on CICs of ligands for NKp30 and NKp44 in the natural cytotoxicity receptor (NCR) group of activating NK receptors. In contrast, CICs express lower levels of MHC class I, known to inhibit NK recognition, on their surface than do the "differentiated" tumor cells. These data have been validated by confocal microscopy where NCR ligands and MHC class I molecule membrane distribution have been analyzed. Moreover, NK cell receptor blockade in cytotoxicity assays demonstrates that NCRs play a major role in the recognition of CIC targets. This study strengthens the idea that biology-based therapy harnessing NK cells could be an attractive opportunity in solid tumors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rossana Tallerico
- Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University of Magna Graecia, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy
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