Impact of acetaminophen on the efficacy of immunotherapy in cancer patients

BACKGROUND

Acetaminophen (APAP) use has been associated with blunted vaccine immune responses. This study aimed to assess APAP impact on immunotherapy efficacy in patients with cancer.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Exposure to APAP was assessed by plasma analysis and was correlated with clinical outcome in three independent cohorts of patients with advanced cancer who were treated with immune checkpoint blockers (ICB). APAP immunomodulatory effects were evaluated on a pre-clinical tumor model and on human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from healthy donors.

RESULTS

Detectable plasma APAP levels at treatment onset was associated with a significantly worse clinical outcome in ICB-treated cancer patients, independently of other prognostic factors. APAP significantly reduced ICB efficacy in the pre-clinical MC38 model, as well as the production of PD1 blockade-related interferon-γ secretion by human PBMCs. Moreover, reduction of ICB efficacy in vivo was associated with significantly increased tumor infiltration by regulatory T cells (Tregs). Administration of APAP over 24 h induced a significant expansion of peripheral Tregs in healthy individuals. In addition, interleukin-10, a crucial mediator of Treg-induced immune suppression, was significantly upregulated upon treatment with ICB in cancer patients taking APAP.

CONCLUSION

This study provides strong pre-clinical and clinical evidence of the role of APAP as a potential suppressor of antitumor immunity. Hence, APAP should be used with caution in patients treated with ICB.

Plasma proteomics identifies leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) as a novel predictive biomarker of immune-checkpoint blockade resistance

BACKGROUND

Immune checkpoint blockers (ICBs) are now widely used in oncology. Most patients, however, do not derive benefit from these agents. Therefore, there is a crucial need to identify novel and reliable biomarkers of resistance to such treatments in order to prescribe potentially toxic and costly treatments only to patients with expected therapeutic benefits. In the wake of genomics, the study of proteins is now emerging as the new frontier for understanding real-time human biology.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

We analyzed the proteome of plasma samples, collected before treatment onset, from two independent prospective cohorts of cancer patients treated with ICB (discovery cohort n = 95, validation cohort n = 292). We then investigated the correlation between protein plasma levels, clinical benefit rate, progression-free survival and overall survival by Cox proportional hazards models.

RESULTS

By using an unbiased proteomics approach, we show that, in both discovery and validation cohorts, elevated baseline serum level of leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) is associated with a poor clinical outcome in cancer patients treated with ICB, independently of other prognostic factors. We also demonstrated that the circulating level of LIF is inversely correlated with the presence of tertiary lymphoid structures in the tumor microenvironment.

CONCLUSION

This novel clinical dataset brings strong evidence for the role of LIF as a potential suppressor of antitumor immunity and suggests that targeting LIF or its pathway may represent a promising approach to improve efficacy of cancer immunotherapy in combination with ICB.