Enhancing Anti-PD-1 Immunotherapy by Targeting MDSCs via Hepatic Arterial Infusion in Breast Cancer Liver Metastases

Background: Surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation often have limited utility for advanced metastatic disease in the liver, and despite its promising activity in select cancers, PD-1 blockade therapy similarly has minimal benefit in this setting. Curaxin, CBL0137, is an experimental anti-cancer drug that disrupts the binding of DNA to histones, destabilizes chromatin, and induces Z-DNA formation which may stimulate anti-tumor immune responses.

Methods: Murine cell lines of colon (CT26) and breast (4T1) cancer were interrogated for survival and CBL0137-associated DNA changes in vitro. Immunocompetent models of liver metastases followed by CBL0137 hepatic arterial infusion (HAI) were used to examine in vivo tumor cell DNA alterations, treatment responses, and the immune contexture associated with CBL0137, both alone and in combination with anti-PD-1 therapy.

Results: CBL0137 induced immediate changes to favor tumor cell death in vitro and in vivo with an efficient tumor uptake via the HAI route. Toxicity to CBL0137 was minimal and anti-tumor treatment effects were more efficient with HAI compared to intravenous delivery. Immune effects were pronounced with CBL0137 HAI with concurrent depletion of a specific population of myeloid-derived suppressor cells and maintenance of effector T cell populations.

Conclusions: Combination of CBL0137 HAI with PD-1 blockade improved survival in 4T1 tumors but not in CT26 tumors, and therapeutic efficacy relies on the finding of simultaneous and targeted depletion of myeloid-derived suppressor cells and skewing of T cell populations to produce synergy with PD-1 blockade therapy.