Abstract 585: Regorafenib antitumor immune response is enhanced by a novel drug combination in CRC syngeneic model
Authors: Bajpai Prachi , Afaq Farrukh , Diffalha Sameer Al , Agarwal Sumit , Kim Hyung Gyoon , Otali Dennis , Varambally Sooryanarayana , Manne Ashish , Paluri Ravi , Khushman Moh’d , Manne Upender 
Published: March 2024

Purpose: In the United States, colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second leading cause of cancer mortality. Metastatic CRC (mCRC) refractory to traditional chemotherapy is managed with regorafenib, a multiple-kinase inhibitor. However, patients show only a modest improvement in overall survival but experience high drug toxicity, adverse side effects, and poor tolerability. Thus, to reduce regorafenib-induced toxicity and to enhance antitumor activity, we combined it with a hybrid/dual JAK/HDAC small-molecule inhibitor (JAK/HDACi) to leverage the advantages of both JAK and HDAC inhibition in a single agent. With syngeneic mice, the efficacy and impact on immunomodulation of this drug combination was assessed.

Methods: To assess effects of the agents, C57BL/6 immunocompetent mice were injected with MC38 murine CRC cells and treated with regorafenib (6mg/kg body wt) or JAK/HDACi (30mg/kg body wt), and their combination every third day for 21 days. Upon completion of the experiment, the tumors were harvested and processed for RNA and protein expression profiles. The effect of drug treatment on immune response was analyzed by nCounter Gene Expression assays (NanoString Technologies). Cytokines were measured in serum using the MesoScale Discovery mouse V-Plex Proinflammatory Panel kit. For pharmacokinetic studies, plasma samples were assayed from C57BL/6 treated with drugs after 1, 7, 21, and 48 hrs of treatment.

Results: The combination treatment significantly reduced tumor growth (volume and weight),relative to the vehicle control or single treatments. Gene expression showed higher CD45 abundance score in the combination treatment. This is an exciting observation, as CD45 has phosphatase activity and dephosphorylates key targets of the drugs used in the study. Additionally, after treatment with the combination, there was higher expression of Gzmb and Gzme and lower expression of Cx3cr1, indicating enhanced immuno modulation relative to regorafenib alone. We confirmed these findings by immunoprofiling of tumors. Higher CD45 staining, noted in tumors of mice treated with the combination, corroborated the gene expression results. Pronounced CD8 T lymphocytes infiltration was observed in combination, compared to regorafenib alone. Reduction of proinflammatory cytokine, TNF-α was noted in the combination group. This is an interesting observation as CD45 negatively regulates TNF, and combination treated mice had highest number of CD45 positive cells. Pharmacokinetic studies showed that the bioavailability of regorafenib was elevated after combination treatment relative to single-agent treatment.

Conclusions: Relative to the single agents, the combination of regorafenib with JAK/HDACi was more effective, with an elevated antitumor immune response and with sustained inhibition of tumor growth. A clinical trial to evaluate this combination for the treatment of mCRCs is warranted.

Citation Format: Prachi Bajpai, Farrukh Afaq, Sameer Al Diffalha, Sumit Agarwal, Hyung Gyoon Kim, Dennis Otali, Sooryanarayana Varambally, Ashish Manne, Ravi Paluri, Moh’d Khushman, Upender Manne. Regorafenib antitumor immune response is enhanced by a novel drug combination in CRC syngeneic model [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2024; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts); 2024 Apr 5-10; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(6_Suppl):Abstract nr 585.