Promising potential of [(177)Lu]Lu-DOTA-folate to enhance tumor response to immunotherapy—a preclinical study using a syngeneic breast cancer model

PURPOSE: It was previously demonstrated that radiation effects can enhance the therapy outcome of immune checkpoint inhibitors. In this study, a syngeneic breast tumor mouse model was used to investigate the effect of [(177)Lu]Lu-DOTA-folate as an immune stimulus to enhance anti-CTLA-4 immunotherapy. METHODS: In vitro and in vivo studies were performed to characterize NF9006 breast tumor cells with regard to folate receptor (FR) expression and the possibility of tumor targeting using [(177)Lu]Lu-DOTA-folate. A preclinical therapy study was performed over 70 days with NF9006 tumor-bearing mice that received vehicle only (group A); [(177)Lu]Lu-DOTA-folate (5 MBq; 3.5 Gy absorbed tumor dose; group B); anti-CTLA-4 antibody (3 × 200 μg; group C), or both agents (group D). The mice were monitored regarding tumor growth over time and signs indicating adverse events of the treatment. RESULTS: [(177)Lu]Lu-DOTA-folate bound specifically to NF9006 tumor cells and tissue in vitro and accumulated in NF9006 tumors in vivo. The treatment with [(177)Lu]Lu-DOTA-folate or an anti-CTLA-4 antibody had only a minor effect on NF9006 tumor growth and did not substantially increase the median survival time of mice (23 day and 19 days, respectively) as compared with untreated controls (12 days). [(177)Lu]Lu-DOTA-folate sensitized, however, the tumors to anti-CTLA-4 immunotherapy, which became obvious by reduced tumor growth and, hence, a significantly improved median survival time of mice (> 70 days). No obvious signs of adverse effects were observed in treated mice as compared with untreated controls. CONCLUSION: Application of [(177)Lu]Lu-DOTA-folate had a positive effect on the therapy outcome of anti-CTLA-4 immunotherapy. The results of this study may open new perspectives for future clinical translation of folate radioconjugates. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s00259-020-05054-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.