A novel cancer vaccine with the ability to simultaneously produce anti-PD-1 antibody and GM-CSF in cancer cells and enhance Th1-biased antitumor immunity

Tumor escape from immune-mediated destruction has been associated with immunosuppressive mechanisms that inhibit T-cell activation. A promising strategy for cancer immunotherapy is to disrupt key pathways regulating immune tolerance, such as program death-1 (PD-1/PD-L1) pathway in the tumor environment. However, the determinants of response to anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) treatment remain incompletely understood. In murine models, PD-1 blockade alone fails to induce effective immune responses to poorly immunogenic tumors, but is successful when combined with additional interventions, such as cancer vaccines. Novel cancer vaccines combined with antibody may offer promising control of cancer development and progression. In this investigation, we generated a novel tumor cell vaccine simultaneously expressing anti-PD-1 mAbs and granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) in CT26 colon cancer and B16-F10 melanoma. The antitumor effect of the vaccine was verified by therapeutic and adoptive animal experiments in vivo. The antitumor mechanism was analyzed using Flow cytometry, Elispot and in vivo intervention approaches. The results showed that tumor cell vaccine secreting PD-1 neutralizing antibodies and GM-CSF induced remarkable antitumor immune effects and prolonged the survival of tumor-bearing animals compared with animals treated with either PD-1 mAbs or GM-CSF alone. Antitumor effects and prolonged survival correlated with strong antigen-specific T-cell responses by analyzing CD11c(+)CD86(+) DC, CD11b(+)F4/80(+) MΦ cells, increased ratio of Teff/Treg in the tumor microenvironment, and higher secretion levels of Th1 proinflammatory cytokines in serum. Furthermore, the results of ELISPOT and in vivo blocking strategies further confirmed that the antitumor immune response is acquired by CD4 and CD8 T immune responses, primarily dependent on CD4 Th1 immune response, not NK innate immune response. The combination of PD-1 blockade with GM-CSF secretion potency creates a novel tumor cell vaccine immunotherapy, affording significantly improved antitumor responses by releasing the state of immunosuppressive microenvironment and augmenting the tumor-reactive T-cell responses.