Abstract 6755: NKT activation enhanced the therapeutic efficacy of neoantigen vaccine in hepatocellular carcinoma
Authors: Li Renhao , Hu Jing-Chu , Rong Li , Wu Yangfan , He Yige , Huang Jiandong 
Published: March 2024

One sentence introduction: This study indicated the potential of combinational therapy of neoantigen vaccine and iNKT activator α-GalCer in Hepatocellular carcinoma. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a leading cause of death around the world. Current immune checkpoint blockade therapies only show effectiveness in some cancer patients, so there is an urgent need for more effective immunotherapy strategies. One alternative is the use of neoantigen-based cancer vaccines, which target tumor-specific antigens (neoantigens) on cancer cells and induce strong T-cell responses. Advances in technology now allow for precise identification of tumor neoantigens using bioinformatic analysis or mass spectrometry. While cancer vaccines have demonstrated strong anti-tumor immune responses and therapeutic effectiveness in some cancer types, their success in HCC remains limited. A contributing factor is the suppressive tumor microenvironment (TME) found in advanced HCC. Some studies suggest that combining neoantigen vaccines with anti-PD1/PD-L1 therapies can significantly enhance HCC treatment outcomes. Overcoming the suppressive immune microenvironment is crucial in cancer treatment, and reactivating intratumoral immunity is essential. In our study, we developed an HCC cancer vaccine using transcriptome sequencing and bioinformatics analysis. Our ELISpot assay results showed that this vaccine induced strong tumor-specific immune responses and significantly inhibited tumor growth in early-stage orthotopic HCC mouse models when administered five days after tumor inoculation. However, the effectiveness decreased in advanced tumors when administered ten days after tumor inoculation. We also discovered a significant relationship between the therapeutic effectiveness of the neoantigen vaccine and the activation of intratumoral NKT cells in HCC. Our study suggested that the type-I NKT cell activator, α-Galactosylceramide (α-GalCer), significantly improved the therapeutic outcomes of the cancer neoantigen vaccine in advanced orthotopic HCC mouse models. In some cases, tumors were almost completely eliminated. This indicates the potential of combining iNKT activators with neoantigen vaccines for HCC treatment. To further understand the role of NKT cells in HCC's TME, we plan to investigate intratumoral NKT cell subtypes following neoantigen vaccine therapy. Additionally, we will develop a new delivery system to deliver type I NKT cell activators and type II NKT inhibitors to tumor sites, aiming to reactivate the suppressive TME in HCC after neoantigen vaccine therapy.

Citation Format: Renhao Li, Jing-Chu Hu, Li Rong, Yangfan Wu, Yige He, Jiandong Huang. NKT activation enhanced the therapeutic efficacy of neoantigen vaccine in hepatocellular carcinoma [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 6755.