Abstract 1360: Combination therapy of reovirus and PD-1 blockade effectively establishes tumor control via innate and adaptive immune responses
Authors: Rajani Karishma , Parrish Christopher , Shim Kevin , Ilett Liz , Errington-Mais Fiona , Thompson Jill , Kottke Tim , Maria-Diaz Rosa , Selby Peter , Pandha Hardev , Harrington Kevin , Melcher Alan , Coffey Matt , Zaidi Shane , Vile Richard 
Published: August 2015

We have developed the use of reovirus as a systemically delivered oncolytic agent in both pre-clinical models and in early Phase clinical trials. Reovirus has direct oncolytic activity against many human/murine tumor cells, partly because of disruption of the PKR-mediated anti-viral response in malignant cells. In addition however, we have shown that anti-tumor therapy is directly associated with immune activation by virus replication in tumors. The immune mechanisms of therapy include both innate immune activation against virally infected tumor cells, as well as the generation of adaptive anti tumor immune responses as a result of in vivo priming against tumor associated antigens released during that killing. Therefore, to exploit the immune components of reovirus anti-tumor therapy, we hypothesized that the combination of reovirus therapy with systemic checkpoint inhibition would augment therapeutic efficacy. To test the hypothesis, we used C57Bl/6 mice, an immune-competent murine model, with established subcutaneous (s.c.) B16 melanomas. In this model, intra-tumoral injection of reovirus into s.c. tumors generated moderate therapy. Provision of systemic anti-PD-1 antibody along with i.t. reovirus, significantly enhanced survival compared to i.t. reovirus alone (p&lt;0.01) and led to &gt;40% of mice being cured long term. Immune analysis suggested that the enhanced therapeutic benefit of reovirus plus checkpoint inhibition is contributed by at least two factors. First, blockade of PD-1 significantly enhanced the ability of NK cells to recognize (TNF-α secretion), and kill, reovirus-infected target tumor cells. Second, anti PD-1 antibody led to a significant reduction in Treg activity in reovirus-treated mice, with the overall effect of increasing the adaptive CD8+ anti-tumor T cell response. Furthermore, in vivo depletion studies demonstrated that NK cells had a dramatic effect in reducing the therapeutic efficacy of reovirus plus anti-PD-1 therapy. Overall, the results indicate that combination therapy of reovirus with PD-1 blockade confers significant survival benefit, by augmenting tumor-specific NK responses and specifically attenuating tumor-specific immunosuppression. These data also suggest that combination of PD-1 inhibition therapy with reovirus oncolytic/immunotherapy represents a readily translatable method to enhance the therapeutic efficacy.

Citation Format: Karishma Rajani, Christopher Parrish, Kevin Shim, Liz Ilett, Fiona Errington-Mais, Jill Thompson, Tim Kottke, Rosa Maria-Diaz, Peter Selby, Hardev Pandha, Kevin Harrington, Alan Melcher, Matt Coffey, Shane Zaidi, Richard Vile. Combination therapy of reovirus and PD-1 blockade effectively establishes tumor control via innate and adaptive immune responses. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 1360. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-1360