Abstract LB441: An intravenous compatible oncolytic vaccinia virus treated hepatic metastasis of colon cancer through extensive cancer cell killing and activation of cytotoxic effector differentiation
Authors: Kim Eunhye , Yang Yeonsoo , Won Solchan , Lee Namhee , Lee Songyi , Park Mi-Ju , Jung Byung-Jin , Hong Yun-Kyoung , Kim Hang-Rae , Lee Dong-Sup , Oh Keunhee 
Published: April 2024

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer worldwide and nearly 50% of CRC patients develop liver metastasis during the course of their disease. Treatment of colorectal cancer liver metastasis (CRLM) has been particularly challenging due to tolerogenic nature of liver immune microenvironment as well as an eventual development of therapy resistance to standard chemotherapy regimen. One promising area of cancer immunotherapy is oncolytic virotherapy that can selectively destroy tumor cells and stimulate anti-tumor immune response. In this study, we systemically administered mSJ-650, an intravenous compatible oncolytic Wyeth strain vaccinia virus that expresses human complement regulatory protein CD55 and murine GM-CSF in place of viral thymidine kinase gene and has a deletion of the viral K2L gene, and evaluated its anti-tumor efficacy in CRLM.

Mouse CRLM was induced by intrasplenic injection of 5×105 MC38-OVA cancer cells. Following tumor nodules formation in the liver, low dose (1×106 pfu) or high dose (3×106 pfu) of mSJ-650 was administered multiple times via tail vein and liver was harvested for evaluation of anti-tumor efficacy. Flow cytometry analysis was performed to investigate changes in hepatic and tumor immune microenvironment upon mSJ-650 treatment. Liver and tumor tissue were stained for immunofluorescence imaging of viral replication within the tumor cells and subsequent oncolysis by the virus.

Systemic administration of mSJ-650 showed potent anti-tumor efficacy and led to significant reduction in metastatic nodule formation in liver even at low dose. The anti-tumor efficacy was mediated by tumor cell-specific viral distribution and replication, followed by lytic egress of mSJ-650 from infected tumor cells. Anti-tumor efficacy of mSJ-650 also accompanied a dramatic shift in immunologically tolerant hepatic microenvironment to immune-stimulatory one by decreasing proportion of myeloid-derived suppressor cells, Kupffer cells, and monocyte-derived macrophages (MDMs) in the liver while increasing CD8+ T cell infiltration by 2~3 folds. Moreover, mSJ-650 treatment was associated with phenotypic change in hepatic immune cells, as evidenced by Kupffer cell and MDM polarization to M1 phenotype and elevated expression of activation markers and cytotoxic molecules in CD8+ T cells. Changes in hepatic immune microenvironment were also observed in tumor nodules, especially in those completely surrounded by adjacent liver tissue, suggesting that anti-tumor immune response in tumor bed is potentiated by reprogramming of tumor-adjacent hepatic immune microenvironment.

Systemic administration of mSJ-650 demonstrated superior anti-tumor efficacy in CRLM which was mediated by direct tumor cell killing and tumor-adjacent hepatic immune microenvironment reprogramming by the virus.

Citation Format: Eunhye Kim, Yeonsoo Yang, Solchan Won, Namhee Lee, Songyi Lee, Mi-Ju Park, Byung-Jin Jung, Yun-Kyoung Hong, Hang-Rae Kim, Dong-Sup Lee, Keunhee Oh. An intravenous compatible oncolytic vaccinia virus treated hepatic metastasis of colon cancer through extensive cancer cell killing and activation of cytotoxic effector differentiation [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2024; Part 2 (Late-Breaking, Clinical Trial, and Invited Abstracts); 2024 Apr 5-10; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(7_Suppl):Abstract nr LB441.