Correction: Cytokine-induced killer cell delivery enhances the antitumor activity of oncolytic reovirus.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0184816.].

Immunotherapy targeting 4-1BB: mechanistic rationale, clinical results, and future strategies.

4-1BB (CD137, tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily 9) is an inducible costimulatory receptor expressed on activated T and natural killer (NK) cells. 4-1BB ligation on T cells triggers a signaling cascade that results in upregulation of antiapoptotic molecules, cytokine secretion, and enhanced effector function. In dysfunctional T cells that have a decreased cytotoxic capacity, 4-1BB ligation demonstrates a potent ability to restore effector functions. On NK cells, 4-1BB signaling can increase antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity. Agonistic monoclonal antibodies targeting 4-1BB have been developed to harness 4-1BB signaling for cancer immunotherapy. Preclinical results in a variety of induced and spontaneous tumor models suggest that targeting 4-1BB with agonist antibodies can lead to tumor clearance and durable antitumor immunity. Clinical trials of 2 agonist antibodies, urelumab and utomilumab, are ongoing. Despite initial signs of efficacy, clinical development of urelumab has been hampered by inflammatory liver toxicity at doses >1 mg/kg. Utomilumab has a superior safety profile, but is a less potent 4-1BB agonist relative to urelumab. Both antibodies have demonstrated promising results in patients with lymphoma and are being tested in combination therapy trials with other immunomodulatory agents. In an effort to optimally leverage 4-1BB-mediated immune activation, the next generation of 4-1BB targeting strategies attempts to decouple the observed antitumor efficacy from the on-target liver toxicity. Multiple therapeutics that attempt to restrict 4-1BB agonism to the tumor microenvironment and minimize systemic exposure have emerged. 4-1BB is a compelling target for cancer immunotherapy and future agents show great promise for achieving potent immune activation while avoiding limiting immune-related adverse events.

Cardiorespiratory Fitness, Adiposity, and Cancer Mortality in Men.

OBJECTIVE: This study sought to evaluate the association between cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and cancer mortality in men with overweight and obesity. METHODS: Maximal exercise testing was performed in 3,610 men (58.8 ± 17.5 years) (n = 2,100 with overweight and n = 1,510 with obesity) free from malignancy at baseline who were followed for 12.3 ± 7.4 years. Body mass index of 25.0 to 29.9 kg/m2 for overweight and ≥ 30.0 for obesity categories was used. Hazard ratios and population-attributable risks (PAR) were determined. RESULTS: During the follow-up period, 11.1% and 9.1% died from cancer among those who had overweight and obesity, respectively. CRF had an inverse and graded association with cancer mortality. Compared with low CRF (< 5 metabolic equivalents), moderate and high CRF levels were associated with 48% and 79% reduced risks for cancer mortality in men who had overweight (P < 0.001) and 55% and 83% lower risks in those who had obesity (P < 0.001), respectively. Low CRF had PARs of 9.3% and 10.5% for cancer mortality in subjects who had overweight and obesity, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Among men with overweight and obesity, higher CRF is associated with lower cancer mortality. Eliminating low CRF as a risk factor would potentially prevent a considerable number of cancer deaths and reduce the associated societal and economic burden in these high-risk populations.

Cytokine-induced killer cell delivery enhances the antitumor activity of oncolytic reovirus.

Oncolytic viruses (OV) have recently emerged as a promising therapeutic modality in cancer treatment. OV selectively infect and kill tumor cells, while sparing untransformed cells. The direct cytotoxic effects combined with the capacity to trigger an immune response make OV an appealing combination partner in the burgeoning field of cancer immunotherapy. One of the leading OV therapeutic candidates is the double-stranded RNA virus reovirus. In order to improve the oncolytic activity of reovirus and allow for systemic administration despite the prevalence of neutralizing antibodies, cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cells were explored as cell carriers for reovirus delivery. In this study, CIK cells were successfully loaded with reovirus ex vivo, and viral replication was limited in CIK cells. Confocal microscopy and flow cytometry demonstrated that CIK cells retained reovirus on the surface. Moreover, CIK cells could promote reovirus infection of tumor cells in the presence of neutralizing antibodies; meanwhile, cytotoxicity of CIK cells was increased after loading with reovirus. These findings support further investigation of reovirus and CIK combination for antitumor therapy.

Cardiorespiratory fitness and cancer incidence in men.

PURPOSE: The preventive role of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) in cancer is not well established. The present study sought to evaluate the association between CRF and cancer incidence in men. METHODS: Maximal exercise testing was performed in 4920 men (59.2 ± 11.4 years) free from malignancy at baseline who were followed for 12.7 ± 7.5 years. Relative risks and population attributable risks were determined. RESULTS: During the follow-up, 25.8% were diagnosed with any type of cancer. CRF was inversely associated with total cancer incidence; for each one metabolic equivalent increase in CRF, there was a 4% reduction in cancer incidence (P < .001). Compared with low CRF, moderate and high CRF levels were associated with 14% (95% CI [0.74-0.99]) and 26% (95% CI [0.62-0.89]) reduced risks for all cancers, respectively (P for trend = .004). Low CRF had a population attributable risk of 3.0% for cancer incidence. The associations between CRF, prostate, skin and colorectal cancers were not significant. CONCLUSIONS: Higher CRF is associated with lower total cancer incidence in men. A novel finding suggests that eliminating low CRF as a risk factor would potentially prevent considerable cancer morbidity and reduce the societal and economic burden associated with cancer. These findings underscore the importance of CRF for primary cancer prevention.

Cardiorespiratory fitness, physical activity and cancer mortality in men.

The preventive role of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and physical activity (PA) in cancer mortality is not well-established. This study sought to evaluate the association between CRF, PA and cancer mortality in men. Maximal exercise testing was performed at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System in 5876 male veterans (60.5±11years) free from malignancy at baseline who were followed for mean of 9.9 (range 0.11 to 26.8) years. PA status was assessed in a sub-group of 4034 participants. Relative risks and population attributable risks (PAR%) for cancer-related mortality were determined. During the follow-up, 447 men (7.6%) died from cancer. Forty-nine percent of the sample was considered physically active (defined as meeting the minimal PA guidelines); this group exhibited a 20% reduction in cancer mortality risk [95% confidence interval (0.67-0.97), p=0.02]. CRF was inversely associated with cancer death. For each 1 MET increase in CRF there was a 5% reduction in risk for cancer mortality (p=0.01). Compared to the least fit group (<5.0 METs), subjects with moderate to high CRF exhibited 26-46% reduced risks of cancer mortality (p for trend=0.002). The PARs% for low CRF and inactivity were 6.6% and 8.5%, respectively. Moderate and high CRF levels and meeting the minimal PA guidelines have protective benefits against cancer mortality in men. Eliminating inactivity and low CRF as risk factors could potentially prevent a considerable number of cancer deaths and reduce the associated societal and economic burden.

Association Between Androgen Deprivation Therapy and Risk of Dementia.

IMPORTANCE: A growing body of evidence supports a link between androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) and cognitive dysfunction, including Alzheimer disease. However, it is currently unknown whether ADT may contribute to the risk of dementia more broadly. OBJECTIVE: To use an informatics approach to examine the association of ADT as a treatment for prostate cancer with the subsequent development of dementia (eg, senile dementia, vascular dementia, frontotemporal dementia, and Alzheimer dementia). DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: In this cohort study, a text-processing method was used to analyze electronic medical record data from an academic medical center from 1994 to 2013, with a median follow-up of 3.4 years (interquartile range, 1.0-7.2 years). We identified 9455 individuals with prostate cancer who were 18 years or older at diagnosis with data recorded in the electronic health record and follow-up after diagnosis. We excluded 183 patients with a previous diagnosis of dementia. Our final cohort comprised 9272 individuals with prostate cancer, including 1826 men (19.7%) who received ADT. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: We tested the effect of ADT on the risk of dementia using propensity score-matched Cox proportional hazards regression models and Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. RESULTS: Among 9272 men with prostate cancer (mean [SD] age, 66.9 [10.9] years; 5450 [58.8%] white), there was a statistically significant association between use of ADT and risk of dementia (hazard ratio, 2.17; 95% CI, 1.58-2.99; P < .001). In sensitivity analyses, results were similar when excluding patients with Alzheimer disease (hazard ratio, 2.32; 95% CI, 1.73-3.12; P < .001). The absolute increased risk of developing dementia among those who received ADT was 4.4% at 5 years (7.9% among those who received ADT vs 3.5% in those who did not receive ADT). Analyses stratified by duration of ADT found that individuals with at least 12 months of ADT use had the greatest absolute increased risk of dementia (hazard ratio, 2.36; 95% CI, 1.64-3.38; P < .001). Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated that ADT users 70 years or older had the lowest cumulative probability of remaining dementia free (log-rank P < .001). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Androgen deprivation therapy in the treatment of prostate cancer may be associated with an increased risk of dementia. This finding should be further evaluated in prospective studies.

Influence of age on androgen deprivation therapy-associated Alzheimer's disease.

We recently found an association between androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) and Alzheimer's disease. As Alzheimer's disease is a disease of advanced age, we hypothesize that older individuals on ADT may be at greatest risk. We conducted a retrospective multi-institutional analysis among 16,888 individuals with prostate cancer using an informatics approach. We tested the effect of ADT on Alzheimer's disease using Kaplan-Meier age stratified analyses in a propensity score matched cohort. We found a lower cumulative probability of remaining Alzheimer's disease-free between non-ADT users age ≥70 versus those age <70 years (p < 0.001) and between ADT versus non-ADT users ≥70 years (p = 0.034). The 5-year probability of developing Alzheimer's disease was 2.9%, 1.9% and 0.5% among ADT users ≥70, non-ADT users ≥70 and individuals <70 years, respectively. Compared to younger individuals older men on ADT may have the greatest absolute Alzheimer's disease risk. Future work should investigate the ADT Alzheimer's disease association in advanced age populations given the greater potential clinical impact.

Anti-CD137 enhances anti-CD20 therapy of systemic B-cell lymphoma with altered immune homeostasis but negligible toxicity.

Studies of sequential anti-CD137/anti-CD20 therapy have previously shown that the efficacy of anti-CD20 was heavily reliant upon anti-CD137; however, the exact mechanism of the anti-B-cell lymphoma efficacy, and whether this correlates with enhanced adverse effects or toxicity, had not been elucidated. Here, we observed that sequential anti-CD137 administration with anti-CD20 resulted in a synergistic therapy, largely dependent upon Fc receptors (FcR), to prolong survival in an experimental B-cell lymphoma therapy model. Tumor suppression was accompanied by B cell depletion, which was not dependent on one activating FcR. Surprisingly, the B-cell activating factor (BAFF) was elevated in the plasma of mice receiving anti-CD137 alone or in combination with anti-CD20, while a selective increase in some plasma cytokines was also noted and triggered by anti-CD137. These effects were independent of activating FcR. Sustained treatment of advanced lymphoma revealed increased lymphocyte infiltrates into the liver and a significant decrease in the metabolic capability of the liver in mice receiving anti-CD137. Importantly, these effects were not exacerbated in mice receiving the anti-CD20/CD137 combination, and elevations in classical liver damage markers such as alanine aminotransferase (ALT) were less than that caused by the lymphoma itself. Thus, combined anti-CD20/anti-CD137 treatment increases the therapeutic index of anti-CD20 or anti-CD137 alone. These mouse data were corroborated by ongoing clinical development studies to assess safety, tolerability and pharmacodynamic activity of human patients treated by this approach. Together, these data support the use of this sequential antibody therapeutic strategy to improve the efficacy of rituximab in B-cell lymphoma patients.

Strategic Combinations: The Future of Oncolytic Virotherapy with Reovirus.

The dominant cancer treatment modalities such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and even targeted kinase inhibitors and mAbs are limited by low efficacy, toxicity, and treatment-resistant tumor subclones. Oncolytic viral therapy offers a novel therapeutic strategy that has the potential to dramatically improve clinical outcomes. Reovirus, a double-stranded benign human RNA virus, is a leading candidate for therapeutic development and currently in phase III trials. Reovirus selectively targets transformed cells with activated Ras signaling pathways; Ras genes are some of the most frequently mutated oncogenes in human cancer and it is estimated that at least 30% of all human tumors exhibit aberrant Ras signaling. By targeting Ras-activated cells, reovirus can directly lyse cancer cells, disrupt tumor immunosuppressive mechanisms, reestablish multicellular immune surveillance, and generate robust antitumor responses. Reovirus therapy is currently being tested in combination with radiotherapy, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and surgery. In this review, we discuss the current successes of these combinatorial therapeutic strategies and emphasize the importance of prioritizing combination oncolytic viral therapy as reovirus-based treatments progress in clinical development. Mol Cancer Ther; 15(5); 767-73. ©2016 AACR.

4-1BB agonism: adding the accelerator to cancer immunotherapy.

The success of checkpoint inhibitors has validated immunomodulatory agents as a valuable class of anticancer therapeutics. A promising co-stimulatory immunologic target is 4-1BB, or CD137, a member of the tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily. Ligation of 4-1BB induces an activating signal in CD8(+) T cells and natural killer cells, resulting in increased pro-inflammatory cytokine secretion, cytolytic function, and antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity. Targeting 4-1BB with agonistic monoclonal antibody (mAb) therapy demonstrated potent antitumor effects in murine tumor models. While anti-4-1BB mAbs have entered clinical trials, optimal efficacy of 4-1BB-targeted agents will inevitably come from combination therapeutic strategies. Checkpoint blockade is a compelling combination partner for 4-1BB agonism. This novel immunotherapeutic approach has the potential to active antitumor immune effectors by a complementary mechanism: simultaneously "removing the brakes" via blocking inhibitory signaling and "stepping on the accelerator" via co-stimulation. While important considerations should be given to 4-1BB-mediated toxicities, the current understanding of 4-1BB biology suggests it may play a key role in advancing the capabilities of cancer combination therapy.

Rationale for anti-CD137 cancer immunotherapy.

The consideration of the complex interplay between the tumour microenvironment (TME) and the immune response is the key for designing effective immunotherapies. Therapeutic strategies that harness co-stimulatory receptors have recently gained momentum in the clinic. One such strategy with promising clinical applications is the targeting of CD137, a member of the tumour necrosis factor receptor superfamily. Its expression on both innate and adaptive immune cells, coupled with its unique ability to potentiate antitumour responses through modulating the TME and to ameliorate autoimmune responses, has established it as an appealing target. In this review, we will discuss the various CD137-targeted immunotherapeutics that have reached clinical development, with a focus on recent advances and novel modalities such as CD137 chimeric antigen receptors and CD137 bispecific antibodies. We will also highlight the effect of CD137 targeting on the TME and discuss the importance of probing TME changes for predicting and testing the efficacy of CD137-mediated immunotherapy.

Androgen Deprivation Therapy and Future Alzheimer's Disease Risk.

PURPOSE: To test the association of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) in the treatment of prostate cancer with subsequent Alzheimer's disease risk. METHODS: We used a previously validated and implemented text-processing pipeline to analyze electronic medical record data in a retrospective cohort of patients at Stanford University and Mt. Sinai hospitals. Specifically, we extracted International Classification of Diseases-9th revision diagnosis and Current Procedural Terminology codes, medication lists, and positive-present mentions of drug and disease concepts from all clinical notes. We then tested the effect of ADT on risk of Alzheimer's disease using 1:5 propensity score-matched and traditional multivariable-adjusted Cox proportional hazards models. The duration of ADT use was also tested for association with Alzheimer's disease risk. RESULTS: There were 16,888 individuals with prostate cancer meeting all inclusion and exclusion criteria, with 2,397 (14.2%) receiving ADT during a median follow-up period of 2.7 years (interquartile range, 1.0-5.4 years). Propensity score-matched analysis (hazard ratio, 1.88; 95% CI, 1.10 to 3.20; P = .021) and traditional multivariable-adjusted Cox regression analysis (hazard ratio, 1.66; 95% CI, 1.05 to 2.64; P = .031) both supported a statistically significant association between ADT use and Alzheimer's disease risk. We also observed a statistically significant increased risk of Alzheimer's disease with increasing duration of ADT (P = .016). CONCLUSION: Our results support an association between the use of ADT in the treatment of prostate cancer and an increased risk of Alzheimer's disease in a general population cohort. This study demonstrates the utility of novel methods to analyze electronic medical record data to generate practice-based evidence.

Natural Killer Cell Immunomodulation: Targeting Activating, Inhibitory, and Co-stimulatory Receptor Signaling for Cancer Immunotherapy.

There is compelling clinical and experimental evidence to suggest that natural killer (NK) cells play a critical role in the recognition and eradication of tumors. Efforts at using NK cells as antitumor agents began over two decades ago, but recent advances in elucidating NK cell biology have accelerated the development of NK cell-targeting therapeutics. NK cell activation and the triggering of effector functions is governed by a complex set of activating and inhibitory receptors. In the early phases of cancer immune surveillance, NK cells directly identify and lyse cancer cells. Nascent transformed cells elicit NK cell activation and are eliminated. However, as tumors progress, cancerous cells develop immunosuppressive mechanisms that circumvent NK cell-mediated killing, allowing for tumor escape and proliferation. Therapeutic intervention aims to reverse tumor-induced NK cell suppression and sustain NK cells' tumorlytic capacities. Here, we review tumor-NK cell interactions, discuss the mechanisms by which NK cells generate an antitumor immune response, and discuss NK cell-based therapeutic strategies targeting activating, inhibitory, and co-stimulatory receptors.

Algorithmic Tools for Mining High-Dimensional Cytometry Data.

The advent of mass cytometry has led to an unprecedented increase in the number of analytes measured in individual cells, thereby increasing the complexity and information content of cytometric data. Although this technology is ideally suited to the detailed examination of the immune system, the applicability of the different methods for analyzing such complex data is less clear. Conventional data analysis by manual gating of cells in biaxial dot plots is often subjective, time consuming, and neglectful of much of the information contained in a highly dimensional cytometric dataset. Algorithmic data mining has the promise to eliminate these concerns, and several such tools have been applied recently to mass cytometry data. We review computational data mining tools that have been used to analyze mass cytometry data, outline their differences, and comment on their strengths and limitations. This review will help immunologists to identify suitable algorithmic tools for their particular projects.

Boosting Cancer Immunotherapy with Anti-CD137 Antibody Therapy.

In the past 5 years, immunomodulatory antibodies have revolutionized cancer immunotherapy. CD137, a member of the tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily, represents a promising target for enhancing antitumor immune responses. CD137 helps regulate the activation of many immune cells, including CD4(+) T cells, CD8(+) T cells, dendritic cells, and natural killer cells. Recent studies indicate that the antitumor efficacy of therapeutic tumor-targeting antibodies can be augmented by the addition of agonistic antibodies targeting CD137. As ligation of CD137 provides a costimulatory signal in multiple immune cell subsets, combination therapy of CD137 antibody with therapeutic antibodies and/or vaccination has the potential to improve cancer treatment. Recently, clinical trials of combination therapies with agonistic anti-CD137 mAbs have been launched. In this review, we discuss the recent advances and clinical promise of agonistic anti-CD137 monoclonal antibody therapy.

Immunotherapeutic approaches to ovarian cancer treatment.

Despite advances in combinatorial chemotherapy regimens and the advent of intraperitoneal chemotherapy administration, current therapeutic options for ovarian cancer patients are inadequate. Immunotherapy offers a novel and promising therapeutic strategy for treating ovarian tumors. Following the demonstration of the immunogenicity of ovarian tumors, multiple immunotherapeutic modalities have been developed. Antibody-based therapies, immune checkpoint blockade, cancer vaccines, and chimeric antigen receptor-modified T cells have demonstrated preclinical success and entered clinical testing. In this review, we discuss these promising immunotherapeutic approaches and emphasize the importance of combinatorial treatment strategies and biomarker discovery.