Phase I study on neoadjuvant combination immunotherapy with mogamulizumab and nivolumab for solid tumors

Effector regulatory T cells expressing C-C chemokine receptor 4 (CCR4) suppress antitumor immune responses. We conducted a phase I clinical trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of preoperative combination therapy with mogamulizumab (an anti-CCR4 antibody) and nivolumab (an anti-programmed death-1 antibody) in patients with solid tumors.

Patients with operable solid tumors were enrolled in a 3+3 design, with preoperative nivolumab (3.0 mg/kg) administered intravenously every 2 weeks three times and mogamulizumab at 0.1 mg/kg (cohort 1), 0.3 mg/kg (cohort 2), or 1.0 mg/kg (cohort 3) every week four times. The primary endpoints were safety and the effects of depleting Forkhead box P3⁺ (FoxP3⁺) T cells in the tumor.

16 patients were enrolled between June 2016 and April 2020, including those with renal (n=7), lung (n=5), esophageal (n=3), and oral (n=1) cancers. Grade 3-4 treatment-related adverse events were observed in 6 of 16 patients, with lymphopenia (25%) and maculopapular rash (13%) being the most frequent. Grade 5 interstitial pneumonia was observed in one patient; however, the cause of death was disease progression. There were three partial responses (PRs) (one lung and two esophageal cancers) among clinical responses and one complete response (one lung cancer) and nine PRs (five kidney, two lung, and two esophageal cancers) among pathological responses. CCR4⁺FoxP3⁺ T cells were depleted in the tumors of all patients and increases in lymphocytes in tumor tissue according to the tumor immune microenvironment classification were observed in 50% of the patients, which correlated with a better prognosis.

The preoperative combination of mogamulizumab and nivolumab was safely managed, exerted antitumor effects, and may be an effective option in the preoperative setting.

The present study was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov as NCT02946671 (registration date 2016-10-05).