Abstract 4097: TMV vaccine inhibits growth of squamous cell carcinoma of head and neck in mice

Introduction: Head and neck cancer is a leading cause of cancer related deaths accounting for approximately 3% of all cancer related mortalities in the US. Currently, there is no cure for the advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) thus development of efficacious therapies is urgently needed. To test whether vaccine-induced immunity inhibits tumor growth, we investigated efficacy of a tumor membrane-based vaccine immunotherapy in a murine SCCHN (SCC VII) model. Materials and Methods: The SCC VII tumors grown subcutaneously in C3H/HeJ mice were harvested to generate tumor membrane vesicles (TMVs). TMVs were then protein transferred with glycolipid-anchored immunostimulatory molecules mouse GPI-B7.1 and mouse GPI-IL-12 to generate the TMV vaccine. Mice were vaccinated with TMV vaccine either before (prophylactic) or after SCC VII tumor cell challenge (therapeutic) and tumor growth was monitored every 3 days. Survival was then assessed using a Kaplan-Meier survival curve and significance determined using a Log-rank test for comparison analysis. Results: SCCVII cells express MHC I, CD44, CD47 and respond to IFN-γ in vitro. The therapeutic TMV vaccine inhibited tumor growth and improved the survival of mice challenged with SCCVII tumor cells. Tumor-free mice remained protective from rechallenge with SCCVII cells. Conclusions: These observations suggest that tumor tissue-based vaccines can be harnessed to develop an effective immunotherapy for SCCHN. Funding: Supported by Head and Neck SPORE pilot funding from Emory Winship Cancer Institute. Citation Format: Ramireddy Bommireddy, Luis Munoz, Chrstopher D. Pack, Sampath Ramachandiran, Shaker JC Reddy, Janet Kim, Georgia Chen, Nabil F. Saba, Dong M. Shin, Periasamy Selvaraj. TMV vaccine inhibits growth of squamous cell carcinoma of head and neck in mice [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 4097.