Abstract
Checkpoint blockade immunotherapy relies on energized cytotoxic T cells attacking tumour tissue systemically. However, for many cancers, the reliance on T cell infiltration leads to low response rates. Conversely, radiotherapy has served as a powerful therapy for local tumours over the past 100 years, yet is rarely sufficient to cause systemic tumour rejection. Here, we describe a treatment strategy that combines nanoscale metal–organic framework (nMOF)-enabled radiotherapy–radiodynamic therapy with checkpoint blockade immunotherapy for both local and systemic tumour elimination. In mouse models of breast and colorectal cancer, intratumorally injected nMOFs treated with low doses of X-ray irradiation led to the eradication of local tumours and, when loaded with an inhibitor of the immune checkpoint molecule indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase, the irradiated nMOFs led to consistent abscopal responses that rejected distal tumours. By combining the advantages of local radiotherapy and systemic tumour rejection via synergistic X-ray-induced in situ vaccination and indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase inhibition, nMOFs may overcome some of the limitations of checkpoint blockade in cancer treatment.
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Acknowledgements
We thank C. Poon and Z. Lin for experimental help. We also thank S. J. Kron and M. S. Lesniak for kindly providing the cell lines. We acknowledge the National Cancer Institute (U01–CA198989 and R21-CA195075A), University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center (NIH CCSG: P30 CA014599), Chemistry–Biology Interface training grant (NIH 5T32GM008720-15) and Ludwig Center for Metastasis Research for funding support.
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W.L., C.H., K.L. and N.G. conceived the project. C.H., K.L., N.G., C.C., K.N., G.L., H.T. and C.P. performed the experiments and analysed the results. C.H., K.L., C.C., Y.-X.F., M.T.S., R.R.W. and W.L. wrote the manuscript.
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W.L. is the founder of RiMO Therapeutics, which licensed the RT–RDT technology from The University of Chicago. R.R.W. is an advisor to RiMO Therapeutics.
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Lu, K., He, C., Guo, N. et al. Low-dose X-ray radiotherapy–radiodynamic therapy via nanoscale metal–organic frameworks enhances checkpoint blockade immunotherapy. Nat Biomed Eng 2, 600–610 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41551-018-0203-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41551-018-0203-4
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