Abstract 2466: Sequential tumor and immune targeted immunotherapy: Anti-tumor activity of antibody drug conjugate Trastuzumab Emtansine (T-DM1) with CD137 stimulation in HER-2+ breast cancer therapy
Authors: Dutt Suparna , Rajasekaran Narendiran , Marabelle Aurelien , Houot Roch , Sadaram Mohith , Hebb Jonathan , Sagiv-Barfi Idit , Ambulkar Sid , Rajapaksa Amanda , Chester Cariad , Waller Erin , Kohrt Holbrook 
Published: August 2015

The mainstay of HER2+ breast cancer treatment has been monoclonal antibody therapy with Trastuzumab, a humanized antibody that targets HER-2. However, the efficacy of Trastuzumab monotherapy is only 10-15%. Therefore, strategies are being developed to enhance its therapeutic efficacy. Our previous study demonstrated that stimulation of NK cells with an anti-CD137 agonistic mAb enhanced Trastuzumab-mediated Antibody Dependent Cellular Cytotoxicity (ADCC). Anti-CD137 agonistic mAb enhanced anti-breast cancer activity of Trastuzumab in vivo in a xenotransplanted human breast cancer model (Kohrt et al. J Clin. Invest, 2012, 22:3). We have developed a treatment regimen consisting of sequential administration of Trastuzumab followed by CD137 antibody as three weekly injections. This regimen demonstrated more potent antitumor activity than administration of anti-CD137 mAb followed by Trastuzumab. Our combination therapy was superior to Traztuzumab alone in a primary HER2-overexpressing-breast tumor xenotransplant model but was ineffective in low HER-2 expressing breast cancer model. Next, we evaluated the therapeutic efficacy of FDA approved antibody drug conjugate Trastuzumab Emtansine (T-DM1) in combination with CD137 antibody. We used HER2 over-expressing HER18 xenograft model and an SU-258 primary breast cancer model in our studies. Following tumor inoculation, mice received either T-DM1 on day 3 (for HER18 xenograft), or day 30 (for SU-258) and anti-CD137 antibody on day 4(or HER18) or day 31(for SU-258) with each treatment repeated weekly for a total of three weeks. Sequential antibody strategy with T-DM1 and CD137 significantly improved survival compared to T-DM1 alone or with Trastuzumab and CD137 antibody. Our results demonstrate that T-DM1 retains its potency and demonstrates synergistic activity with anti-CD137 mAb therapy against HER2-overexpressing breast cancer models. Our results support a novel, sequential antibody approach against HER-2+breast cancer, by targeting first the tumor with an antibody drug conjugate and then the host immune system. Clinical investigations are now planned to determine the clinical outcome of our immunotherapy strategy.

Citation Format: Suparna Dutt, Narendiran Rajasekaran, Aurelien Marabelle, Roch Houot, Mohith Sadaram, Jonathan Hebb, Idit Sagiv-Barfi, Sid Ambulkar, Amanda Rajapaksa, Cariad Chester, Erin Waller, Holbrook Kohrt. Sequential tumor and immune targeted immunotherapy: Anti-tumor activity of antibody drug conjugate Trastuzumab Emtansine (T-DM1) with CD137 stimulation in HER-2+ breast cancer therapy. [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 2466. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-2466