Effect of hypofractionated radiotherapy, PD-1 immunotherapy, and anti-angiogenic therapy on abscopal responses and the tumor microenvironment.

Authors

null

Guang Han

Department of Radiation Oncology, Tongji Medical College, Hubei Cancer Hospital, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

Guang Han , Zhiqiang Dong , Chunhui Li , Jianping Bi , Ding Yi , Hanping He , Wei Wei , Guoliang PI , Ying Li , Yanping Li , Li Zhang , Vivek Verma , Desheng Hu

Organizations

Department of Radiation Oncology, Tongji Medical College, Hubei Cancer Hospital, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China, College of Biomedicine and Health, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China, Wuhan, China, Department of Radiation Oncology, Tongji Medical College, Hubei Cancer Hospital, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China, Wuhan, China, Department of Oncology,Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China, Department of Radiation Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX

Research Funding

Institutional Funding
Biomedical Center foundation of Hubei Cancer Hospital, Grant No. 2022SWZX22

Background: Hypofractionated radiotherapy (HFRT) of the primary tumor can induce abscopal effects in metastatic cancer, which could be enhanced by adding PD-1 immunotherapy (IO) and low-dose radiotherapy (LDRT) of distant disease. However, this strategy remains with suboptimal efficacy. Translational research has shown that LDRT primarily modulates the immune microenvironment of tumors in the irradiated area, a mechanism shared by anti-angiogenic therapy (AAT). Therefore, this study aimed to compare the efficacy (abscopal responses and cytokine levels in the tumor microenvironment) between HFRT+IO+AAT and HFRT+IO+LDRT. Methods: Bilateral mouse tumor models were divided into seven groups for various treatments (Table 1). After treatment, blood and tumor samples of mice were collected for analysis. We evaluated clinical effects of HFRT+IO+AAT in 4 patients with unirradiated lung metastases in a currently-accruing phase Ib study of stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) plus anlotinib (AAT) with or without toripalimab (PD-1 IO) in driver mutation-negative non-small cell lung cancer (NCT05021328). Results: The results of animal studies are shown in Table 1. HFRT to the primary tumor combined with AAT and IO enhanced the abscopal response in secondary tumor compared to HFRT, HFRT+IO, HFRT+AAT, IO+AAT, as well as HFRT+LDRT+IO. The most noteworthy secondary tumor control was observed in mice receiving HFRT+IO+AAT. The enhanced abscopal responses were associated with increased infiltration of CD8+ effector T cells, increased expression of IFN-γ and levels of TNF-α. From the prospective trial population, 4 unirradiated lung lesions in the HFRT+IO+AAT cohort decreased by an average of 48% in size (n=3 partial response, n=1 stable disease). No grade 3 treatment-related toxicity was observed. Conclusions: HFRT+IO+AAT is a promising therapeutic combination that may optimize abscopal responses, potentially even further than HFRT+LDRT+IO. This new “triple therapy” was safe and efficacious in patients and deserves further study.

Results of various treatments in bilateral mouse tumor models.

Treatment groups (N=5 each)Relative tumor volume of unirradiated lesionCD8+ T cells in unirradiated lesion (%)IFN-γ in unirradiated tumor lysate (pg/mg)TNF-α in unirradiated tumor lysate (pg/mg)
Control2.8060.270.67740.6604
HFRT2.9980.360.99580.1272
HFRT+IO1.8630.471.55900.2375
HFRT+AAT1.6700.691.82400.6676
IO+AAT1.3720.721.72000.4765
HFRT+LDRT+IO (Regimen A)1.7630.761.72300.4298
HFRT+IO+AAT (Regimen B)1.1460.992.73301.1320
Regimen A vs. Regimen BP≤0.01P≤0.05p≤0.05P≤0.05

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Abstract Details

Meeting

2023 ASCO Annual Meeting

Session Type

Publication Only

Session Title

Publication Only: Developmental Therapeutics—Immunotherapy

Track

Developmental Therapeutics—Immunotherapy

Sub Track

PD1/PD-L1 Inhibitor Combinations

Citation

J Clin Oncol 41, 2023 (suppl 16; abstr e14609)

DOI

10.1200/JCO.2023.41.16_suppl.e14609

Abstract #

e14609

Abstract Disclosures