J Lung Cancer.  2012 Jun;11(1):1-11. 10.6058/jlc.2012.11.1.1.

Recent Advances in Immunotherapy of Lung Cancer

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Immunology, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA. dmitry.gabrilovich@moffitt.org

Abstract

Immunotherapy was long considered as an attractive modality in the treatment of lung cancer. However, clinical successes were hampered by the inability to achieve potent activation of the antitumor immune system and effectively overcome the immune suppressive environment associated with lung cancer. Recent advances in cancer immunotherapy demonstrate that these limitations can be surmounted. In this review, we discuss the recent advances in immunotherapy of lung cancer and their potential implication for management of this disease.

Keyword

Lung neoplasms; Immunotherapy; Translational medical research; Combination modality therapy; Vaccines; Immunomodulation

MeSH Terms

Immune System
Immunomodulation
Immunotherapy
Lung
Lung Neoplasms
Translational Medical Research
Vaccines
Vaccines

Figure

  • Fig. 1 Mechanisms of tumor escape from immune control in lung cancer. See description in the text. TGFβ: transforming growth factor β, MDSC: myeloid-derived suppressor cells, Treg: regulatory T cells, CD8: CD8+ T cells, NO: nitric oxide, IDO: indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase.


Reference

1. Lowin B, Hahne M, Mattmann C, Tschopp J. Cytolytic T-cell cytotoxicity is mediated through perforin and Fas lytic pathways. Nature. 1994. 370:650–652.
Article
2. Heusel JW, Wesselschmidt RL, Shresta S, Russell JH, Ley TJ. Cytotoxic lymphocytes require granzyme B for the rapid induction of DNA fragmentation and apoptosis in allogeneic target cells. Cell. 1994. 76:977–987.
Article
3. Dunn GP, Old LJ, Schreiber RD. The three Es of cancer immunoediting. Annu Rev Immunol. 2004. 22:329–360.
Article
4. Ossina NK, Cannas A, Powers VC, et al. Interferon-gamma modulates a p53-independent apoptotic pathway and apoptosis-related gene expression. J Biol Chem. 1997. 272:16351–16357.
Article
5. Yasuoka Y, Naomoto Y, Yamatsuji T, et al. Combination of tumor necrosis factor alpha and interferon alpha induces apoptotic cell death through a c-myc-dependent pathway in p53 mutant H226br non-small-cell lung cancer cell line. Exp Cell Res. 2001. 271:214–222.
Article
6. Henkart PA, Sitkovsky MV. Cytotoxic lymphocytes: two ways to kill target cells. Curr Biol. 1994. 4:923–925.
Article
7. Hail N Jr, Carter BZ, Konopleva M, Andreeff M. Apoptosis effector mechanisms: a requiem performed in different keys. Apoptosis. 2006. 11:889–904.
Article
8. Niture SK, Jaiswal AK. INrf2 (Keap1) targets Bcl-2 degradation and controls cellular apoptosis. Cell Death Differ. 2011. 18:439–451.
Article
9. Raja SM, Wang B, Dantuluri M, et al. Cytotoxic cell granule-mediated apoptosis. Characterization of the macromolecular complex of granzyme B with serglycin. J Biol Chem. 2002. 277:49523–49530.
10. Trapani JA, Davis J, Sutton VR, Smyth MJ. Proapoptotic functions of cytotoxic lymphocyte granule constituents in vitro and in vivo. Curr Opin Immunol. 2000. 12:323–329.
Article
11. Kontani K, Sawai S, Hanaoka J, Tezuka N, Inoue S, Fujino S. Involvement of granzyme B and perforin in suppressing nodal metastasis of cancer cells in breast and lung cancers. Eur J Surg Oncol. 2001. 27:180–186.
Article
12. Al Omar SY, Marshall E, Middleton D, Christmas SE. Increased killer immunoglobulin-like receptor expression and functional defects in natural killer cells in lung cancer. Immunology. 2011. 133:94–104.
Article
13. Caras I, Grigorescu A, Stavaru C, et al. Evidence for immune defects in breast and lung cancer patients. Cancer Immunol Immunother. 2004. 53:1146–1152.
Article
14. Ciszak L, Kosmaczewska A, Werynska B, Szteblich A, Jankowska R, Frydecka I. Impaired zeta chain expression and IFN-gamma production in peripheral blood T and NK cells of patients with advanced lung cancer. Oncol Rep. 2009. 21:173–184.
15. Rabinovich GA, Gabrilovich D, Sotomayor EM. Immunosuppressive strategies that are mediated by tumor cells. Annu Rev Immunol. 2007. 25:267–296.
Article
16. Derniame S, Vignaud JM, Faure GC, Béné MC. Alteration of the immunological synapse in lung cancer: a microenvironmental approach. Clin Exp Immunol. 2008. 154:48–55.
Article
17. Seliger B, Cabrera T, Garrido F, Ferrone S. HLA class I antigen abnormalities and immune escape by malignant cells. Semin Cancer Biol. 2002. 12:3–13.
Article
18. Ramnath N, Tan D, Li Q, et al. Is downregulation of MHC class I antigen expression in human non-small cell lung cancer associated with prolonged survival? Cancer Immunol Immunother. 2006. 55:891–899.
Article
19. Kikuchi E, Yamazaki K, Torigoe T, et al. HLA class I antigen expression is associated with a favorable prognosis in early stage non-small cell lung cancer. Cancer Sci. 2007. 98:1424–1430.
Article
20. Chen HY, Yu SL, Li KC, Yang PC. Biomarkers and transcriptome profiling of lung cancer. Respirology. 2012. 17:620–626.
Article
21. Prado-Garcia H, Romero-Garcia S, Morales-Fuentes J, Aguilar-Cazares D, Lopez-Gonzalez JS. Activation-induced cell death of memory CD8+ T cells from pleural effusion of lung cancer patients is mediated by the type II Fas-induced apoptotic pathway. Cancer Immunol Immunother. 2012. 61:1065–1080.
Article
22. Chappell DB, Restifo NP. T cell-tumor cell: a fatal interaction? Cancer Immunol Immunother. 1998. 47:65–71.
Article
23. Lee JK, Sayers TJ, Back TC, Wigginton JM, Wiltrout RH. Lack of FasL-mediated killing leads to in vivo tumor promotion in mouse Lewis lung cancer. Apoptosis. 2003. 8:151–160.
24. Zhang Y, Liu Q, Zhang M, Yu Y, Liu X, Cao X. Fas signal promotes lung cancer growth by recruiting myeloid-derived suppressor cells via cancer cell-derived PGE2. J Immunol. 2009. 182:3801–3808.
Article
25. Whiteside TL. Down-regulation of zeta-chain expression in T cells: a biomarker of prognosis in cancer? Cancer Immunol Immunother. 2004. 53:865–878.
26. Prado-Garcia H, Aguilar-Cazares D, Meneses-Flores M, Morales-Fuentes J, Lopez-Gonzalez JS. Lung carcinomas do not induce T-cell apoptosis via the Fas/Fas ligand pathway but down-regulate CD3 epsilon expression. Cancer Immunol Immunother. 2008. 57:325–336.
Article
27. Hasmim M, Noman MZ, Lauriol J, et al. Hypoxia-dependent inhibition of tumor cell susceptibility to CTL-mediated lysis involves NANOG induction in target cells. J Immunol. 2011. 187:4031–4039.
Article
28. Zou W. Regulatory T cells, tumour immunity and immunotherapy. Nat Rev Immunol. 2006. 6:295–307.
Article
29. Gabrilovich DI, Ostrand-Rosenberg S, Bronte V. Coordinated regulation of myeloid cells by tumours. Nat Rev Immunol. 2012. 12:253–268.
Article
30. Gabrilovich DI, Corak J, Ciernik IF, Kavanaugh D, Carbone DP. Decreased antigen presentation by dendritic cells in patients with breast cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 1997. 3:483–490.
31. Knight SC, Burke F, Bedford PA. Dendritic cells, antigen distribution and the initiation of primary immune responses to self and non-self antigens. Semin Cancer Biol. 2002. 12:301–308.
Article
32. Yewdall AW, Drutman SB, Jinwala F, Bahjat KS, Bhardwaj N. CD8+ T cell priming by dendritic cell vaccines requires antigen transfer to endogenous antigen presenting cells. PLoS One. 2010. 5:e11144.
Article
33. Gabrilovich D. Mechanisms and functional significance of tumour-induced dendritic-cell defects. Nat Rev Immunol. 2004. 4:941–952.
Article
34. Kim YD, Park HR, Song MH, et al. Pattern of cancer/testis antigen expression in lung cancer patients. Int J Mol Med. 2012. 29:656–662.
Article
35. Kim SH, Lee S, Lee CH, et al. Expression of cancer-testis antigens MAGE-A3/6 and NY-ESO-1 in non-small-cell lung carcinomas and their relationship with immune cell infiltration. Lung. 2009. 187:401–411.
Article
36. Shigematsu Y, Hanagiri T, Shiota H, et al. Clinical significance of cancer/testis antigens expression in patients with non-small cell lung cancer. Lung Cancer. 2010. 68:105–110.
Article
37. Grah J, Samija M, Juretić A, Sarcević B, Sobat H. Immunohystochemical expression of cancer/testis antigens (MAGEA-3/4, NY-ESO-1) in non-small cell lung cancer: the relationship with clinical-pathological features. Coll Antropol. 2008. 32:731–736.
38. Yokota J, Kohno T. Molecular footprints of human lung cancer progression. Cancer Sci. 2004. 95:197–204.
Article
39. Pisarev V, Yu B, Salup R, Sherman S, Altieri DC, Gabrilovich DI. Full-length dominant-negative survivin for cancer immunotherapy. Clin Cancer Res. 2003. 9:6523–6533.
40. Okamoto K, Okamoto I, Hatashita E, et al. Overcoming erlotinib resistance in EGFR mutation-positive non-small cell lung cancer cells by targeting survivin. Mol Cancer Ther. 2012. 11:204–213.
Article
41. Gao Q, Yang S, Kang MQ. Influence of survivin and Bcl-2 expression on the biological behavior of non-small cell lung cancer. Mol Med Report. 2012. 5:1409–1414.
Article
42. Bradbury PA, Shepherd FA. Immunotherapy for lung cancer. J Thorac Oncol. 2008. 3:6 Suppl 2. S164–S170.
Article
43. Agrawal B, Krantz MJ, Reddish MA, Longenecker BM. Cancer-associated MUC1 mucin inhibits human T-cell proliferation, which is reversible by IL-2. Nat Med. 1998. 4:43–49.
Article
44. Tomita Y, Imai K, Senju S, et al. A novel tumor-associated antigen, cell division cycle 45-like can induce cytotoxic T-lymphocytes reactive to tumor cells. Cancer Sci. 2011. 102:697–705.
Article
45. Kuroda K, Takenoyama M, Baba T, et al. Identification of ribosomal protein L19 as a novel tumor antigen recognized by autologous cytotoxic T lymphocytes in lung adenocarcinoma. Cancer Sci. 2010. 101:46–53.
Article
46. Rochlitz C, Figlin R, Squiban P, et al. Phase I immunotherapy with a modified vaccinia virus (MVA) expressing human MUC1 as antigen-specific immunotherapy in patients with MUC1-positive advanced cancer. J Gene Med. 2003. 5:690–699.
Article
47. MacDermed DM, Khodarev NN, Pitroda SP, et al. MUC1-associated proliferation signature predicts outcomes in lung adenocarcinoma patients. BMC Med Genomics. 2010. 3:16.
Article
48. Quoix E, Ramlau R, Westeel V, et al. Therapeutic vaccination with TG4010 and first-line chemotherapy in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer: a controlled phase 2B trial. Lancet Oncol. 2011. 12:1125–1133.
Article
49. Hu Y, Duan J, Zhan Q, Wang F, Lu X, Yang XD. Novel MUC1 aptamer selectively delivers cytotoxic agent to cancer cells in vitro. PLoS One. 2012. 7:e31970.
Article
50. Palmer M, Parker J, Modi S, et al. Phase I study of the BLP25 (MUC1 peptide) liposomal vaccine for active specific immunotherapy in stage IIIB/IV non-small-cell lung cancer. Clin Lung Cancer. 2001. 3:49–57.
Article
51. Butts C, Murray N, Maksymiuk A, et al. Randomized phase IIB trial of BLP25 liposome vaccine in stage IIIB and IV non-small-cell lung cancer. J Clin Oncol. 2005. 23:6674–6681.
Article
52. Powell E, Chow LQ. BLP-25 liposomal vaccine: a promising potential therapy in non-small-cell lung cancer. Expert Rev Respir Med. 2008. 2:37–45.
Article
53. Atanackovic D, Altorki NK, Stockert E, et al. Vaccine-induced CD4+ T cell responses to MAGE-3 protein in lung cancer patients. J Immunol. 2004. 172:3289–3296.
Article
54. De Pas T, Giovannini M, Rescigno M, et al. Vaccines in non-small cell lung cancer: rationale, combination strategies and update on clinical trials. Crit Rev Oncol Hematol. 2012. 02. 24. [Epub]. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.critrevonc.2011.12.005.
Article
55. Kakimi K, Isobe M, Uenaka A, et al. A phase I study of vaccination with NY-ESO-1f peptide mixed with Picibanil OK-432 and Montanide ISA-51 in patients with cancers expressing the NY-ESO-1 antigen. Int J Cancer. 2011. 129:2836–2846.
Article
56. Chiappori AA, Soliman H, Janssen WE, Antonia SJ, Gabrilovich DI. INGN-225: a dendritic cell-based p53 vaccine (Ad.p53-DC) in small cell lung cancer: observed association between immune response and enhanced chemotherapy effect. Expert Opin Biol Ther. 2010. 10:983–991.
Article
57. Antonia SJ, Mirza N, Fricke I, et al. Combination of p53 cancer vaccine with chemotherapy in patients with extensive stage small cell lung cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 2006. 12(3 Pt 1):878–887.
Article
58. Gabrilovich DI, Velders MP, Sotomayor EM, Kast WM. Mechanism of immune dysfunction in cancer mediated by immature Gr-1+ myeloid cells. J Immunol. 2001. 166:5398–5406.
Article
59. Kusmartsev S, Cheng F, Yu B, et al. All-trans-retinoic acid eliminates immature myeloid cells from tumor-bearing mice and improves the effect of vaccination. Cancer Res. 2003. 63:4441–4449.
60. Nagaraj S, Youn JI, Weber H, et al. Anti-inflammatory triterpenoid blocks immune suppressive function of MDSCs and improves immune response in cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 2010. 16:1812–1823.
Article
61. Dranoff G, Jaffee E, Lazenby A, et al. Vaccination with irradiated tumor cells engineered to secrete murine granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor stimulates potent, specific, and long-lasting anti-tumor immunity. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 1993. 90:3539–3543.
Article
62. Salgia R, Lynch T, Skarin A, et al. Vaccination with irradiated autologous tumor cells engineered to secrete granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor augments antitumor immunity in some patients with metastatic non-small-cell lung carcinoma. J Clin Oncol. 2003. 21:624–630.
Article
63. Nemunaitis J, Sterman D, Jablons D, et al. Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor gene-modified autologous tumor vaccines in non-small-cell lung cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2004. 96:326–331.
Article
64. Nemunaitis J, Jahan T, Ross H, et al. Phase 1/2 trial of autologous tumor mixed with an allogeneic GVAX vaccine in advanced-stage non-small-cell lung cancer. Cancer Gene Ther. 2006. 13:555–562.
Article
65. Fotin-Mleczek M, Zanzinger K, Heidenreich R, et al. Highly potent mRNA based cancer vaccines represent an attractive platform for combination therapies supporting an improved therapeutic effect. J Gene Med. 2012. 01. 19. [Epub]. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jgm.2605.
Article
66. Korman AJ, Peggs KS, Allison JP. Checkpoint blockade in cancer immunotherapy. Adv Immunol. 2006. 90:297–339.
Article
67. Hodi FS, O'Day SJ, McDermott DF, et al. Improved survival with ipilimumab in patients with metastatic melanoma. N Engl J Med. 2010. 363:711–723.
Article
68. Robert C, Thomas L, Bondarenko I, et al. Ipilimumab plus dacarbazine for previously untreated metastatic melanoma. N Engl J Med. 2011. 364:2517–2526.
Article
69. Wolchok JD, Yang AS, Weber JS. Immune regulatory antibodies: are they the next advance? Cancer J. 2010. 16:311–317.
70. Sznol M, Powderly JD, Smith DC, et al. Safety and antitumor activity of biweekly MDX-1106 (Anti-PD-1, BMS-936558/ONO-4538) in patients with advanced refractory malignancies. J Clin Oncol. 2010. 28(15s):2506.
Article
71. Godin-Ethier J, Hanafi LA, Piccirillo CA, Lapointe R. Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase expression in human cancers: clinical and immunologic perspectives. Clin Cancer Res. 2011. 17:6985–6991.
Article
72. Lu T, Ramakrishnan R, Altiok S, et al. Tumor-infiltrating myeloid cells induce tumor cell resistance to cytotoxic T cells in mice. J Clin Invest. 2011. 121:4015–4029.
Article
73. Behl D, Porrata LF, Markovic SN, et al. Absolute lymphocyte count recovery after induction chemotherapy predicts superior survival in acute myelogenous leukemia. Leukemia. 2006. 20:29–34.
Article
74. Liseth K, Ersvaer E, Hervig T, Bruserud Ø. Combination of intensive chemotherapy and anticancer vaccines in the treatment of human malignancies: the hematological experience. J Biomed Biotechnol. 2010. 2010:692097.
Article
75. Gribben JG, Ryan DP, Boyajian R, et al. Unexpected association between induction of immunity to the universal tumor antigen CYP1B1 and response to next therapy. Clin Cancer Res. 2005. 11:4430–4436.
Article
76. Arlen PM, Gulley JL, Parker C, et al. A randomized phase II study of concurrent docetaxel plus vaccine versus vaccine alone in metastatic androgen-independent prostate cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 2006. 12:1260–1269.
Article
77. Schlom J, Arlen PM, Gulley JL. Cancer vaccines: moving beyond current paradigms. Clin Cancer Res. 2007. 13:3776–3782.
Article
78. Wheeler CJ, Das A, Liu G, Yu JS, Black KL. Clinical responsiveness of glioblastoma multiforme to chemotherapy after vaccination. Clin Cancer Res. 2004. 10:5316–5326.
Article
79. Ramakrishnan R, Assudani D, Nagaraj S, et al. Chemotherapy enhances tumor cell susceptibility to CTL-mediated killing during cancer immunotherapy in mice. J Clin Invest. 2010. 120:1111–1124.
Article
80. Horwitz SB. Taxol (paclitaxel): mechanisms of action. Ann Oncol. 1994. 5:Suppl 6. S3–S6.
81. Sartiano GP, Lynch WE, Bullington WD. Mechanism of action of the anthracycline anti-tumor antibiotics, doxorubicin, daunomycin and rubidazone: preferential inhibition of DNA polymerase alpha. J Antibiot (Tokyo). 1979. 32:1038–1045.
Article
82. Reedijk J, Lohman PH. Cisplatin: synthesis, antitumour activity and mechanism of action. Pharm Weekbl Sci. 1985. 7:173–180.
Article
83. Shi L, Mai S, Israels S, Browne K, Trapani JA, Greenberg AH. Granzyme B (GraB) autonomously crosses the cell membrane and perforin initiates apoptosis and GraB nuclear localization. J Exp Med. 1997. 185:855–866.
Article
84. Pinkoski MJ, Hobman M, Heibein JA, et al. Entry and trafficking of granzyme B in target cells during granzyme B-perforin-mediated apoptosis. Blood. 1998. 92:1044–1054.
Article
85. Froelich CJ, Orth K, Turbov J, et al. New paradigm for lymphocyte granule-mediated cytotoxicity. Target cells bind and internalize granzyme B, but an endosomolytic agent is necessary for cytosolic delivery and subsequent apoptosis. J Biol Chem. 1996. 271:29073–29079.
86. Motyka B, Korbutt G, Pinkoski MJ, et al. Mannose 6-phosphate/insulin-like growth factor II receptor is a death receptor for granzyme B during cytotoxic T cell-induced apoptosis. Cell. 2000. 103:491–500.
Article
87. Stein M, Braulke T, Krentler C, Hasilik A, von Figura K. 46-kDa mannose 6-phosphate-specific receptor: biosynthesis, processing, subcellular location and topology. Biol Chem Hoppe Seyler. 1987. 368:937–947.
Article
88. Stein M, Zijderhand-Bleekemolen JE, Geuze H, Hasilik A, von Figura K. Mr 46,000 mannose 6-phosphate specific receptor: its role in targeting of lysosomal enzymes. EMBO J. 1987. 6:2677–2681.
Article
89. Griffiths G, Hoflack B, Simons K, Mellman I, Kornfeld S. The mannose 6-phosphate receptor and the biogenesis of lysosomes. Cell. 1988. 52:329–341.
Article
90. Dressel R, Raja SM, Höning S, et al. Granzyme-mediated cytotoxicity does not involve the mannose 6-phosphate receptors on target cells. J Biol Chem. 2004. 279:20200–20210.
Article
91. Trapani JA, Sutton VR, Thia KY, et al. A clathrin/dynamin-and mannose-6-phosphate receptor-independent pathway for granzyme B-induced cell death. J Cell Biol. 2003. 160:223–233.
Article
Full Text Links
  • JLC
Actions
Cited
CITED
export Copy
Close
Share
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
Similar articles
Copyright © 2024 by Korean Association of Medical Journal Editors. All rights reserved.     E-mail: koreamed@kamje.or.kr