Immunosuppressive Myeloid Cells' Blockade in the Glioma Microenvironment Enhances the Efficacy of Immune-Stimulatory Gene Therapy.

ABSTRACT: Survival of glioma (GBM) patients treated with the current standard of care remains dismal. Immunotherapeutic approaches that harness the cytotoxic and memory potential of the host immune system have shown great benefit in other cancers. GBMs have developed multiple strategies, including the accumulation of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) to induce immunosuppression. It is therefore imperative to develop multipronged approaches when aiming to generate a robust anti-tumor immune response. Herein, we tested whether combining MDSC depletion or checkpoint blockade would augment the efficacy of immune-stimulatory herpes simplex type-I thymidine kinase (TK) plus Fms-like tyrosine kinase ligand (Flt3L)-mediated immune stimulatory gene therapy. Our results show that MDSCs constitute >40%

SUBMITTER: Kamran N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5363306 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature