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Therapeutic potential of interleukin-15 in cancer (Review).

ABSTRACT: The immune system is dysfunctional in cancer, and therapeutic approaches designated to restore immunity and increase long-term overall survival are desirable. The role of immunotherapy is to trigger the immune system to recognize and destroy tumor cells. Interleukin-15 (IL-15) is a member of the common gamma-chain (γc) cytokines that promote the differentiation and expansion of T cells, B cells and natural killer (NK) cells, leading to enhanced antitumor responses. This suggests that IL-15 is a promising candidate for anticancer therapy. Renewed interest in cancer immunotherapy has led to an increased number of preclinical studies and clinical trials that have investigated the reliability and potency of IL-15-based agents, not only as single therapy, but also in combination with others. This review provides a description of these studies which show the advantages and disadvantages of IL-15 as an immunotherapeutic agent. We present here the role of IL-15 and pharmacologically improved IL-15 superagonists as a single treatment or in combination with other therapeutic agents.

SUBMITTER: Isvoranu G

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8112152 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Therapeutic potential of interleukin-15 in cancer (Review).

Isvoranu Gheorghita G Surcel Mihaela M Munteanu Adriana Narcisa AN Bratu Ovidiu Gabriel OG Ionita-Radu Florentina F Neagu Monica Teodora MT Chiritoiu-Butnaru Marioara M

Experimental and therapeutic medicine 20210424 1

The immune system is dysfunctional in cancer, and therapeutic approaches designated to restore immunity and increase long-term overall survival are desirable. The role of immunotherapy is to trigger the immune system to recognize and destroy tumor cells. Interleukin-15 (IL-15) is a member of the common gamma-chain (γc) cytokines that promote the differentiation and expansion of T cells, B cells and natural killer (NK) cells, leading to enhanced antitumor responses. This suggests that IL-15 is a ...[more]

PMID: 33986840

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Project description:IntroductionInterleukin-6 (IL-6) is an important growth factor for estrogen receptor-α (ERα)-positive breast cancer, and elevated serum IL-6 is associated with poor prognosis.MethodsThe role of the phosphorylated signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 pathway was investigated in ERα-positive breast cancer. A panel of cell lines was treated with exogenous IL-6. An IL-6 specific gene signature was generated by profiling ten ERα-positive breast cancer cell lines alone or following treatment with 10 ng/mL recombinant IL-6 or human marrow stromal cell-conditioned media, with or without siltuximab (a neutralizing anti-IL-6 antibody) and grown in three-dimensional tumor microenvironment-aligned cultures for 4 days, 5 days, or 6 days. The established IL-6 signature was validated against 36 human ERα-positive breast tumor samples with matched serum. A comparative MCF-7 xenograft murine model was utilized to determine the role of IL-6 in estrogen-supplemented ERα-positive breast cancer to assess the efficacy of anti-IL-6 therapy in vivo.ResultsIn eight of nine ERα-positive breast cancer cell lines, recombinant IL-6 increased phosphorylation of tyrosine 705 of STAT3. Differential gene expression analysis identified 17 genes that could be used to determine IL-6 pathway activation by combining their expression intensity into a pathway activation score. The gene signature included a variety of genes involved in immune cell function and migration, cell growth and apoptosis, and the tumor microenvironment. Validation of the IL-6 gene signature in 36 matched human serum and ERα-positive breast tumor samples showed that patients with a high IL-6 pathway activation score were also enriched for elevated serum IL-6 (≥10 pg/mL). When human IL-6 was provided in vivo, MCF-7 cells engrafted without the need for estrogen supplementation, and addition of estrogen to IL-6 did not further enhance engraftment. Subsequently, we prophylactically treated mice at MCF-7 engraftment with siltuximab, fulvestrant, or combination therapy. Siltuximab alone was able to blunt MCF-7 engraftment. Similarly, siltuximab alone induced regressions in 90% (9/10) of tumors, which were established in the presence which were established in the presence of hMSC expressing human IL-6 and estrogen.ConclusionGiven the established role for IL-6 in ERα-positive breast cancer, these data demonstrate the potential for anti-IL-6 therapeutics in breast cancer.

Project description:Prostate cancer is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer in men with mortality rates, overtaking those for breast cancer in the last 2 years in the UK. Despite advances in prostate cancer treatments, over 25% of men do not survive over 5 years with advanced disease. Due to the success of immunotherapies in treating other cancers, this treatment modality has been investigated for Prostate cancer, however, the sole FDA approved immunotherapy so far (Provenge™) only extends life by a few months. Therefore, finding immunotherapeutic agents to treat prostate cancer is of major interest. Our group has previously shown that Interleukin-15 (IL-15), unlike other therapeutic cytokines such as IL-2 and IL-12, can stimulate expansion and activity of CD8 T cells and NK cells in vitro when they are exposed to prostate cancer cells, while studies in mice have shown a 50% reduction in tumor size with no apparent toxicity. In this study, we aim to examine potencies of IL-15 in combination with a cyclic dinucleotide (CDN) that activates the Stimulator of Interferon-Gene (STING) receptor. Selected CDNs (also known as STING agonists) have previously been shown to activate both T cells and dendritic cells through STING. We hypothesize that the combination of STING agonists and IL-15 can additively increase NK and T cell activity as they act to increase type I interferons (IFNs) through STING activation and IFN-γ through IL-15. In prostate cancer-lymphocyte co-cultures we now show that combination of IL-15 and the STING agonist ADU-S100 analog induces a marked killing of cancer cells above that seen with IL-15 or ADU-S100 alone. We show that this is related to a potent activation of NK cells resulting in increased perforin and CD69 expression, and up to a 13-fold increase in IFNγ secretion in the co-cultures. NK cells are responsible for killing of the cancer cells, as shown by a lack of cytotoxicity in NK depleted lymphocyte-tumor cell co-cultures, or in co-cultures of B and T cells with tumor cells. In summary, we propose that the combination of IL-15 and the sting agonist ADU-S100 analog may be potently effective in treatment of prostate cancer.

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Therapeutic potential of interleukin-15 in cancer (Review).

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Therapeutic potential of interleukin-15 in cancer (Review).

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