Featured Publications
Agonistic CD40 Antibodies in Cancer Treatment
Djureinovic D, Wang M, Kluger HM. Agonistic CD40 Antibodies in Cancer Treatment. Cancers 2021, 13: 1302. PMID: 33804039, PMCID: PMC8000216, DOI: 10.3390/cancers13061302.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchAgonistic CD40 antibodyCD40 antibodyDendritic cellsAntigen presentationClinical developmentEarly phase clinical trialsAgonist CD40 antibodyActivation of CD8Pro-inflammatory effectsAntigen-presenting cellsT cell functionRenal cell carcinomaAnti-tumor effectsPhase clinical trialsAnti-tumor activityT cell activationCancer Genome AtlasSystemic therapyCell carcinomaCostimulatory moleculesCD40 expressionClinical trialsPancreatic adenocarcinomaPreclinical modelsT cells
2024
Decoy-resistant IL-18 reshapes the tumor microenvironment and enhances rejection by anti-CTLA-4 in renal cell carcinoma
Schoenfeld D, Djureinovic D, Su D, Zhang L, Lu B, Kamga L, Mann J, Huck J, Hurwitz M, Braun D, Jilaveanu L, Ring A, Kluger H. Decoy-resistant IL-18 reshapes the tumor microenvironment and enhances rejection by anti-CTLA-4 in renal cell carcinoma. JCI Insight 2024 PMID: 39561007, DOI: 10.1172/jci.insight.184545.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchAnti-CTLA-4Renal cell carcinomaIL-18IL-18BPCell carcinomaTumor microenvironmentTumor typesPatients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitorsRegulatory T cell levelsAnti-PD-1 treatmentCD8+ T cellsAnti-PD-1Immune checkpoint inhibitorsCell renal cell carcinomaNon-responder patientsMyeloid cell populationsT cell levelsCytokine interleukin-18Anti-cancer efficacySecreted binding proteinCheckpoint inhibitorsResponding patientsPreclinical modelsT cellsMurine model
2023
A modified IL-18 drug in combination with CTLA-4 blockade enhances anti-tumor efficacy in preclinical models of renal cell carcinoma
Schoenfeld D, Djureinovic D, Zhang L, Mann J, Huck J, Jilaveanu L, Ring A, Kluger H. A modified IL-18 drug in combination with CTLA-4 blockade enhances anti-tumor efficacy in preclinical models of renal cell carcinoma. The Oncologist 2023, 28: s7-s7. PMCID: PMC10445567, DOI: 10.1093/oncolo/oyad216.010.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchImmune checkpoint inhibitorsRenal cell carcinomaImmune cell depletion studiesCell depletion studiesT cellsAnti-tumor activityPreclinical modelsRENCA modelTumor growthNK cellsIL-18IL-18BPCell carcinomaAnti-PD-1/CTLAAnti-PD-1 therapyIntra-tumoral T cellsModest anti-tumor activityAnti-tumor immune responseCytokine/chemokine levelsCytokine/chemokine profilingDepletion studiesEarly phase clinical trialsDecoy receptor proteinEnrichment of CD8PD-1 blockadeExpression of cancer–testis antigens in the immune microenvironment of non‐small cell lung cancer
Hikmet F, Rassy M, Backman M, Méar L, Mattsson J, Djureinovic D, Botling J, Brunnström H, Micke P, Lindskog C. Expression of cancer–testis antigens in the immune microenvironment of non‐small cell lung cancer. Molecular Oncology 2023, 17: 2603-2617. PMID: 37341056, PMCID: PMC10701773, DOI: 10.1002/1878-0261.13474.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsNon-small cell lung cancerCancer-testis antigensCell lung cancerImmune microenvironmentLung cancerT cellsCTA expressionAnti-cancer immune responseMost NSCLC casesEfficacy of immunotherapyPlasma cell infiltrationRegulatory T cellsImmune cell densityCellular immune reactionsNSCLC patientsImmune profileClinical outcomesNSCLC casesCell infiltrationImmune cellsImmunohistochemical profilingM2 macrophagesClinical dataImmune responseImmune reactions