Combination of rAd-p53 in situ gene therapy and anti-PD-1 antibody immunotherapy induced anti-tumor activity in mouse syngeneic urogenital cancer models

In this study we undertook a novel combination therapy using rAd-p53 in situ gene therapy and immunotherapy with immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) anti-PD-1 antibody for urogenital cancers. Three mouse syngeneic tumor cell lines, TRAMP-C2 (prostate cancer derived from C57BL/6 mice), MBT-2 (bladder cancer derived from C3H mice) and Renca (kidney cancer derived from BALB/c mice) were used in this study. The highest coxsackie and adenovirus receptor (CAR) mRNA expression was observed in TRAMP-C2 cells, followed by Renca and then MBT-2 cells. Consistent with the CAR expressions, rAd-p53 at 160 multiplicity of infection (MOI) significantly inhibited the cell proliferation of TRAMP-C2 and Renca cells, but not MBT-2 cells. In in vivo experiments, the combination of intratumoral injections of rAd-p53 (1 × 10 9 plaque-forming units) every other day and intraperitoneal injections of anti-mouse PD-1 antibody (200 μg) twice a week suppressed tumor growth and prolonged survival compared to rAd-p53 or anti-PD-1 antibody monotherapy in both the TRAMP-C2 and Renca models. Our results encourage the clinical development of combination therapy comprised of in situ gene therapy with rAd-p53 and immunotherapy with an ICI anti-PD-1 antibody for urogenital cancers.