CD137L- DENDRITIC CELLS HAVE A NOVEL INFLAMMATORY PHENOTYPE AND INDUCE A POTENT TC1 RESPONSE AGAINST EPSTEIN-BARR VIRUS

Abstract

Most clinical studies with dendritic cells (DCs) as anti-cancer vaccines have relied on GM-CSF + IL-4 derived cDCs. Although proven to be safe, the overall clinical benefits are low. These disappointing results are largely due the inability of cDCs to mount sufficiently strong T cell responses. In this study, we show that CD137L-DCs, generated via CD137L signaling, have a novel inflammatory phenotype and are closely related to in-vivo DCs. CD137L-DCs induce more potent CD8+ T cell response against cancer-associated Epstein-Barr virus and enhance the physiological of fitness of T cells. We thus report, CD137L-DCs as the next generation DCs for DC based immunotherapy. A phase I trial for treatment of Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NCT03282617) is currently underway.