Mechanisms involved in synergistic anticancer effects of anti-4-1BB and cyclophosphamide therapy

Chemotherapy can precondition for immunotherapy by creating an environment for homeostatic lymphoproliferation and eliminating some of the suppressive immune networks. We found that combination therapy with anti-4-1BB and cyclophosphamide (CTX) produced synergistic anticancer effects in the poorly immunogenic B16 melanoma model in mice. The antitumor effect of the combination therapy depended mainly on CD8(+) T cells, the 4-1BB-dependent expansion and differentiation of which into IFN-gamma-producing CD11c(+)CD8(+) T cells was enhanced by CTX. Anti-4-1BB induced a rapid repopulation of T and B cells from CTX-mediated lymphopenia. Anti-4-1BB protected naïve T cells from CTX and promoted proliferation of memory/effector and memory T cells. The combination treatment produced approximately 60- and 2.2-fold more CTLs per tumor-associated antigen compared with CTX or anti-4-1BB alone, respectively. This indicates that anti-4-1BB promoted a preferential expansion of tumor-specific CD8(+) T cells among the repopulated lymphocytes following CTX-mediated lymphopenia. CTX treatment enhanced 4-1BB expression on CD4 and CD8 T cells, and CTX alone or in combination with anti-4-1BB effectively suppressed peripheral regulatory T cells. Our results indicate that anti-4-1BB and CTX can be practical partners in cancer therapy because CTX creates an environment in which anti-4-1BB actively promotes the differentiation and expansion of tumor-specific CTLs.