- Gadwa, Jacob;
- Amann, Maria;
- Bickett, Thomas;
- Knitz, Michael;
- Darragh, Laurel;
- Piper, Miles;
- Van Court, Benjamin;
- Bukkapatnam, Sanjana;
- Pham, Tiffany;
- Wang, Xiao-Jing;
- Saviola, Anthony;
- Deak, Laura;
- Umaña, Pablo;
- Klein, Christian;
- DAlessandro, Angelo;
- Karam, Sana
The implementation of cancer immunotherapies has seen limited clinical success in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Interleukin-2 (IL-2), which modulates the survival and functionality of lymphocytes, is an attractive target for new immunotherapies but one that is limited by presence of regulatory T cells (Tregs) expressing the high-affinity IL-2Rα. The bispecific immunocytokine PD1-IL2v preferentially delivers IL-2 signaling through IL-2Rβγ on PD-1-expressing cells. Selectively targeting the intermediate-affinity IL-2Rβγ can be leveraged to induce anti-tumor immune responses in effector T cells and natural killer (NK) cells while limiting the negative regulation of IL-2Rα activation on Tregs. Using radiation therapy (RT) in combination with PD1-IL2v improves local tumor control and survival, and controls metastatic spread in orthotopic HNSCC tumor models. PD1-IL2v drives systemic activation and expansion of circulating and tumor-infiltrating cytotoxic T cells and NK cells while limiting Treg-mediated immunosuppression. These data show that PD1-L2v induces durable systemic tumor control in HNSCC.