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MICROSATELLITE INSTABILITY IN PROSTATE CANCER BY PCR OR NEXT-GENERATION SEQUENCING

Jennifer A. Hempelmann, Christina M. Lockwood, Eric Q. Konnick, Michael T. Schweizer, Emmanuel S. Antonarakis, Tamara L. Lotan, Bruce Montgomery, Peter S. Nelson, Nola Klemfuss, Stephen J. Salipante and Colin C. Pritchard
Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer, 6:29 (17 April 2018)
Research Article

From the Authors

"Microsatellite Instability (MSI) testing is beginning to be used to manage immunotherapy treatment decisions in patients with advanced prostate cancer. Our study shows that the most widely-used assay for detecting MSI has inferior sensitivity in prostate cancer compared to NGS-based methods that interrogate a larger number of microsatellite loci."

Colin C. Pritchard, PhD — University of Washington

AN INNOVATIVE IMMUNOTHERAPEUTIC STRATEGY FOR OVARIAN CANCER: CLEC10A AND GLYCOMIMETIC PEPTIDES

Laura L. Eggink, Katherine F. Roby, Robert Cote and J. Kenneth Hoober
Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer, 6:28 (17 April 2018)
Research Article

From the Authors

"The potential for C-type (Ca2+-dependent) lectins (CLECs) as targets for immunotherapy rests on the expression of these receptors on cells at strategic points in the immune system and their ability to promote expansion of the innate and adaptive immune systems. To explore this approach, a tetravalent peptide was designed by Susavion Biosciences, Inc., that binds with high avidity to a C-type lectin receptor that is specific for N-acetylgalactosamine. Treatment of mice with small doses of the peptide promoted expansion of peritoneal immune cell populations and blocked accumulation of ascites in mice with implanted ovarian cancer cells. The peptide was effective as a monotherapy but also in combination with chemotherapeutic drugs or the antibody against the receptor PD-1. Our data show that the peptide induced maturation of immune cells in the peritoneal cavity and caused a highly significant extension of survival in this murine model of ovarian cancer with a favorable toxicity and non-antigenic profile."

J. Kenneth Hoober, PhD – Susavion Biosciences, Inc.

DISCOVERY AND PRECLINICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF THE ANTAGONIST ANTI-PD-L1 MONOCLONAL ANTIBODY LY3300054

Yiwen Li, Carmine Carpenito, George Wang, David Surguladze, Amelie Forest, Maria Malabunga, Mary Murphy, Yiwei Zhang, Andreas Sonyi, Darin Chin, Douglas Burtrum, Ivan Inigo, Anthony Pennello, Leyi Shen, Laurent Malherbe, Xinlei Chen, Gerald Hall, Jaafar N. Haidar, Dale L. Ludwig, Ruslan D. Novosiadly and Michael Kalos
Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer, 6:31 (30 April 2018)
Research Article

From the Authors

"Immune therapies that target the PD-(L)1 axis have transformed the treatment landscape in oncology. In this report authors describe the preclinical development of a novel anti PD-L1 agent currently in clinical development, and use a series of immune- humanized mouse models to understand the activity and mechanism of action for this agent."

Michael Kalos, PhD — Janssen Oncology

DURABLE REGRESSION OF MEDULLOBLASTOMA AFTER REGIONAL AND INTRAVENOUS DELIVERY OF ANTI-HER2 CHIMERIC ANTIGEN RECEPTOR T CELLS*

Anandani Nellan†, Christopher Rota†, Robbie Majzner, Cynthia M. Lester-McCully, Andrea M. Griesinger, Jean M. Mulcahy Levy, Nicholas K. Foreman, Katherine E. Warren and Daniel W. Lee
Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer, 6:30 (30 April 2018)
Research Article

From the Authors

"Effective treatments for relapsed medulloblastoma are lacking. Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy holds great promise but also potential neurotoxicity due to a potential inflammatory immune response in the confines of the central nervous system. This pre-clinical study demonstrates that a small intracranial dose of a new HER2-targeted CAR T cell therapy is effective against xenografts with stereotactically implanted medulloblastoma. Further, CAR T cells administered and activated within the CSF of non-human primates did not induce toxicity."

Daniel W. Lee, MD — University of Virginia

*This article is part of JITC’s Emerging Immunotherapeutic Agents special series. All articles in this series cover details beyond standard JITC articles, providing readers with a unique collection of cutting-edge cancer immunotherapy research.