Long-Acting IL-7 and Oncolytic Virus Combo Improves Glioblastoma Immunotherapy in Mouse Study
A new "expand and pull" treatment strategy combines long-acting interleukin-7 and oncolytic virus therapy to boost T cell response in glioblastoma. In mouse models, the combination improved cytotoxic T cell function and led to long-term tumor-free survival.
Researchers have developed a new treatment strategy called "expand and pull" that combines systemic long-acting interleukin-7 with intratumoral oncolytic virus therapy to improve immunotherapy for glioblastoma. The approach aims to overcome the poor prognosis for glioblastoma patients, which is largely due to the limited number of functional T cells in the tumor microenvironment.
The strategy uses rhIL-7-hyFc, a long-acting recombinant human interleukin-7, to increase the abundance of T cells in the periphery. This is followed by treatment with an oncolytic virus to recruit these expanded T cells to the tumor site. In preclinical studies using syngeneic immuno-resistant mouse models of glioma, combining rhIL-7-hyFc with Zika virus (ZIKV) increased both systemic and intratumoral T cell levels, improved cytotoxic T cell function, and delayed the expression of inhibitory checkpoint receptors. This combination resulted in long-term tumor-free survival in the mice.
The researchers observed similar survival benefits when using a safer, genetically modified version of Zika virus (Δ10 3′-UTR ZIKV) and the clinically tested oncolytic adenovirus, Delta24-RGD. The findings demonstrate that augmenting both systemic and local immune responses can improve the utility of glioblastoma-targeted immunotherapies.