The success of targeted therapies for hematological malignancies has heralded their potential as both salvage treatment and early treatment lines, reducing the need for high-dose, intensive, and often toxic chemotherapeutic regimens. For young patients with classic Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL), immunotherapies provide the possibility to lessen long-term, treatment-related toxicities. However, suitable therapeutic targets are lacking. By integrating single-cell dissection of the tumor landscape and an in-depth, single-cell–based off-tumor antigen prediction, we identify CD86 as a promising therapeutic target in cHL. CD86 is highly expressed on Hodgkin and Reed-Sternberg cancer cells and cHL-specific tumor-associated macrophages. We reveal CD86–CTLA-4 as a key suppressive pathway in cHL, driving T-cell exhaustion. Cellular therapies targeting CD86 had extraordinary efficacy in vitro and in vivo and were safe in immunocompetent mouse models without compromising bacterial host defense in sepsis models. Our results prove the potential value of anti-CD86 immunotherapies for treating cHL.
Institut(e)Unit for Clinical Pharmacology (KKG-EKLiP) Institute of AI for Health (AIH)
FörderungenLMUexcellent of LMU Munich Institutional Strategy LMUexcellent of LMU Munich Ernst Jung Stiftung Wilhelm Sander-Stiftung German Cancer Aid (Deutsche Krebshilfe) Else KronerFresenius-Stiftung Horizon 2020 program of the European Union Melanoma Research Alliance International doctoral program "i-Target: immunotargeting of cancer" - Elite Network of Bavaria DKTK School of Oncology Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) TANGO Bavarian Cancer Research Center (BZKF) Bundesministeriumfr Bildung und Forschung European Research Council DFG (German Research Foundation) Else Krner-Fresenius Clinician Scientist Program Cancer Immunotherapy, the Munich Clinician Scientist Program Hightech Agenda Bayern European Research Council under the European Union German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) Care for Rare Foundation Novartis Foundation (InCa prize) Volkswagen Foundation DFG (German Research Foundation) under Germany's Excellence Strategy Bavarian Research Foundation Monika-Kutzner Foundation for Cancer Research Hector Foundation Fritz Bender Foundation DFG Forderprogramm fuer Forschung und Lehre of the Medical Faculty of the LMU Munich