Abstract 583: The CDK4/6 inhibitor abemaciclib induces synergistic immune activation and antitumor efficacy in combination with PD-L1 blockade

Targeting cyclin dependent kinases 4 and 6 (CDK4/6) with inhibitors such as abemaciclib has shown promise in early and late phase clinical trials in both breast cancer and NSCLC. While there is evidence that patients benefit from single-agent abemaciclib, combination strategies leveraging this compound together with immunotherapy are of interest for the treatment of these and other cancers. Consequently, it is important to understand if and how a cell cycle inhibitor can be combined with immunotherapy. However, because most preclinical studies have been performed using xenograft tumors in immune-compromised mice, the potential immunomodulatory effects of abemaciclib have not been adequately ascertained. To investigate the immune combinatorial potential of abemaciclib, we studied the effects of treatment alone and in combination with checkpoint immunotherapy in a murine syngeneic tumor model sensitive to abemaciclib using immuno-competent mice. Abemaciclib monotherapy of established murine CT26 tumors, which harbor KRAS G12C mutation and CDKN2A deletion, caused a dose-dependent delay in tumor growth. Surprisingly, gene expression analysis showed that treatment was associated with an increase in intra-tumor immune inflammation without major alteration in immune subset frequencies. Testing of various dosing regimens in this preclinical model found that monotherapy abemaciclib pretreatment followed by combination with anti-PD-L1 antibody therapy, induced an enhanced anti-tumor response compared to abemaciclib and anti-PD-L1 monotherapies. Optimal combination therapy exhibited superior anti-tumor efficacy, resulting in complete tumor regression (CR) in 50-60% of mice in a setting where anti-PD-L1 monotherapy showed little or no efficacy (0% CRs). Mice which maintained CRs after cessation of combination therapy were able to resist later CT26 rechallenge, demonstrating that abemaciclib in combination with anti-PD-L1 enabled the generation of an immunologic memory. Examination of intra-tumor gene expression during treatment found that combination therapy further amplified the immune/T cell activation signature compared to both monotherapies. Intra-tumoral suppression of cell cycle genes, which are indicative of inhibition of CDK4/6, was also greater during the combination therapy, suggesting that the effects anti-PD-L1 therapy may augment the cell cycle arrest induced by abemaciclib. Although it was uncertain if agents that inhibit cell proliferation could be combined with immunotherapy, these preclinical results demonstrate that it is possible to combine CDK4/6 inhibition by abemaciclib with checkpoint immunotherapy to improve tumor efficacy. The synergistic responses observed in terms of tumor efficacy, immune activation, and cell cycle control provides support for the clinical investigation of this combination. Citation Format: Jack Dempsey, Lysiane Huber, Amelie Forest, Jennifer R. Stephens, Thompson N. Doman, Jason Manro, Andrew Capen, Robert S. Flack, Gregory P. Donoho, Sean Buchanan, Alfonso De Dios, Kyla Driscoll, Michael Kalos, Ruslan Novosiadly, Richard P. Beckmann, David A. Schaer. The CDK4/6 inhibitor abemaciclib induces synergistic immune activation and antitumor efficacy in combination with PD-L1 blockade [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 583. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-583