Therapeutic and Immunologic Responses Elicited By in Situ Vaccination with CpG, Ibrutinib, and Low-Dose Radiation

Introduction: In situ vaccination aims to induce an immune response locally at one tumor site that propagates systemically to all tumor sites. This approach can be effective in indolent lymphoma (Brody et al., JCO 2010, Frank et al., Cancer Discov 2018, Hammerich et al., Nat Med 2019). We designed a novel clinical strategy combining in situ vaccination with systemic ibrutinib, a kinase inhibitor that modulates B and T cells. Our preclinical work had shown that combined intratumoral CpG injection and systemic ibrutinib administration was curative of systemic disease in a mouse lymphoma model, an effect that was T cell dependent (Sagiv-Barfi, Blood, 2015). Here we report the results and correlative data from the Phase I/II clinical trial testing this combination along with local low-dose radiation in adults with recurrent low-grade B cell lymphoma (NCT02927964).

Methods: Enrolled patients received intratumoral injections of CpG (SD-101, 3 mg) weekly for 5 doses and local radiation (4Gy in two fractions) to the same site. Daily oral ibrutinib (560mg) began after the second intratumoral injection. Revised Lugano criteria (Cheson et al., JCO, 2014) were used to assess overall radiographic responses to therapy. Distal responses were assessed by excluding the injected site and measuring only non-injected sites. Fine needle aspirates (FNAs) were obtained from CpG-injected and non-injected nodal tumor sites pre- and post-treatment and analyzed by flow cytometry and droplet-based single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq).

Results: Among the twenty patients treated on study, median age was 64, 55% were male, and all but one had a diagnosis of follicular lymphoma. All patients were previously treated with an average of 2 lines of therapy, and half had previously received chemotherapy. Adverse events (AEs) were consistent with known effects of ibrutinib (including diarrhea and rash) and of CpG (including fever and flu-like reactions). No drug-related grade 4, serious, or unexpected AEs were observed. As anticipated, all patients experienced tumor reduction at the locally treated site (median 84% reduction). Remarkably, all patients experienced some tumor reduction at non-injected non-irradiated index lesions (median 45%, range 13-100%), suggesting the generation of systemic immune responses (Figure 1A). By Cheson criteria, ten patients achieved an objective response, including one complete response (ORR 50%). Despite an overall improvement in tumor burden, three patients had new or progressing non-index lesions and scored as progressive disease. Treatment induced an expansion of naïve and effector memory T cells and reductions in T follicular helper (Tfh) and activated regulatory T cells (Tregs) at the injected site. T cells with high expression of transcripts related to oxidative phosphorylation (Toxphos) increased preferentially in patients with subsequent clinical tumor reduction (Figure 1B), implicating T cell metabolism in successful generation of immune responses. Analysis of single cell T cell receptor (TCR) sequencing data revealed>300 clones that were comprised of at least 2 cells at each timepoint and which expanded or contracted at least two-fold during treatment. Expanding clones were more likely than contracting clones to be activated or memory T cells and less likely than contracting clones to be Tfh or Tregs (Figure 1C-D). Clone dynamics were often similar at the two sampled tumor sites, reflecting systemic immune responses. Finally, in vitro assays showed treatment-induced expansion of tumor-specific T cells in the peripheral blood of all 6 evaluable patients.

Conclusion: The combination of oral ibrutinib, intratumoral CpG, and local low-dose radiation is safe and can generate systemic antitumor immune responses and systemic tumor shrinkage in low-grade B cell lymphoma.

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