Enhanced CTLA-4 blockade anti-tumor immunity with APG-157 combination in a murine head and neck cancer

We evaluated APG-157 and immune checkpoint inhibitors combination treatment using syngeneic mouse head and neck cancer cell line model, SCCVII. The study demonstrated best tumor control with APG-157+ anti-CTLA-4 antibody combination treatment and RNA-seq of the tumor revealed up-regulation of various genes related to T cell activity and down-regulation of various genes related to poor prognosis of head & neck cancer. The tumors were collected from 10 groups of mice treated with following treatment groups. 1) Control 2)APG-157 3)anti-PD-1, 4)anti-CTLA-4, 5) APG-157 + anti-PD-1, 6) APG-157 + anti-CTLA-4, 7) APG-157 + anti-PD-1 + anti-CTLA-4, 8) Anti-PD-1 + anti-CTLA-4, 9) anti-CD8 antibody 10) anti-CD8 antibody + APG-157 + anti-CTLA-4.