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H1-parvovirus-induced immunogenic cell death: Potential basis for a novel chemo-virotherapy in pancreatic cancer

Subject Area General and Visceral Surgery
Term from 2010 to 2014
Project identifier Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 165050455
 
Final Report Year 2016

Final Report Abstract

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a severe gastrointestinal malignancy with very poor prognosis for the patients, due to late diagnosis and lack of effective therapies. There is a clear demand to develop alternative approaches for the treatment of PDAC besides standard surgery and radio/chemotherapy. Based on our previous work, we concluded that direct oncolytic activity is required but not sufficient for eradication of tumors by combined H1-PV and Gemzar® treatment (chemovirotherapy, CVT); the concomitant induction of the immune response is crucial. As a possible mechanism which may underlie collateral triggering of long-term anticancer immunity by CVT, we suggested an induction of immunogenic cell death (ICD). For that, tumor cell should release immune system activators such as HMGB1, CRT, ATP and uric acid while dying. These ICD-determinants ensure attraction and activation of antigen-presenting cells consequently enabling cross-presentation of tumor antigens and cross-priming of cytotoxic effectors lymphocytes (CTL) in appropriate environment. The main objective of the current project was to prove these assumptions and to create a basis to exploit H-1PV/GEM combination in clinically-relevant protocols. Our results show that the H1-parvovirus in mono or combination therapy with the chemotherapeutic Gemzar can be used for effective PDAC treatment. We proved the efficiency in vitro in pancreatic cancer cell lines as well as in vivo in rodent models. We also proved that immunemodulating effects are of the same importance as the direct viral oncolysis. Although CVT induced a very poor CRT response, the abundant virus-mediated secretion of another ICD-determinant, alarmin HMGB1, emerged as an active, death-independent/apoptosis-compatible process, which we were first to describe. Cytostatic/irradiation and parvovirus showed a distinctive pattern of compatibility, whereby reciprocation compensated mutual shortcomings or adverse side effects. Our project resulted in the establishment of a unique primary pancreatic cancer cell line (ASAN-PaCa); publications in scientific journals; and patents, which were out-licensed to an industrial partner, which currently delivers the parvovirus as a drug for a clinical trial aiming treatment of the patients with pancreatic cancer.

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