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Hatem Soliman,1 Melanie Mediavilla-Varela,2 Scott J Antonia,3 1Department of Women's Oncology and Experimental Therapeutics, 2Department of Immunology, 3Department of Thoracic Oncology, Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, FL, USA Background: There is increasing interest in using cancer vaccines to treat breast cancer patients in the adjuvant setting to prevent recurrence in high risk situations or in combination with other immunomodulators in the advanced setting. Current peptide vaccines are limited by immunologic compatibility issues, and engineered autologous cellular vaccines are difficult to produce on a large scale. Using standardized bystander cell lines modified to secrete immune stimulating adjuvant substances can greatly enhance the ability to produce immunogenic cellular vaccines using unmodified autologous cells or allogeneic medical grade tumor cell lines as targets. We investigated the efficacy of a cellular vaccine using B78H1 bystander cell lines engineered to secrete granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor and CD40 ligand (BCG) in a murine model of breast cancer. Methods: Five-week-old female BALB/c mice were injected orthotopically in the mammary fat pad with 4T1 tumor cells. Treatment consisted of irradiated 4T1 ± BCG cells given subcutaneously every 4 days and was repeated three times per mouse when tumors became palpable. Tumors were measured two to three times per week for 25 days. The vaccine's activity was confirmed in a second experiment using Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) cells in C57BL/6 mice to exclude a model specific effect. Interferon-γ (IFN-γ) and interleukin-2 (IL-2) enzyme-linked immunospots (ELISPOTS) were performed on splenic lymphocytes incubated with 4T1 lysates along with immunohistochemistry for CD3 on tumor sections. Results: Tumor growth was significantly inhibited in the 4T1-BCG and LLC-BCG treatment groups when compared to 4T1 and LLC treatment groups. There were higher levels of IL-2 and IFN-γ secreting T-cells on ELISPOT for BCG treated groups, and a trend for higher numbers of tumor infiltrating CD3+ lymphocytes. Some tumors in the 4T1-BCG demonstrated organized lymphoid structures within the tumor microenvironment as well. Conclusion: The use of BCG bystander cell lines demonstrates proof of concept for anti-tumor activity and immunogenicity in an immunocompetent murine model of breast cancer. This vaccine is being evaluated in lung cancer and should be explored further in clinical trials of breast cancer patients at high risk of recurrence or in combination with other immunomodulatory agents. Keywords: breast cancer, immunotherapy, bystander vaccine, CD40L, GM-CSF

Abstract Background Hormone-refractory prostate cancer (HRPC) is characterized by poor response to chemotherapy and high mortality, particularly among African American men when compared to other racial/ethnic groups. It is generally accepted that docetaxel, the standard of care for chemotherapy of HRPC, primarily exerts tumor cell death by inducing mitotic catastrophe and caspase-dependent apoptosis following inhibition of microtubule depolymerization. However, there is a gap in our knowledge of mechanistic events underlying docetaxel-induced caspase-independent cell death, and the genes that antagonize this process. This knowledge is important for circumventing HRPC chemoresistance and reducing disparities in prostate cancer mortality. Results We investigated mechanistic events associated with docetaxel-induced death in HRPC cell lines using various approaches that distinguish caspase-dependent from caspase-independent cell death. Docetaxel induced both mitotic catastrophe and caspase-dependent apoptosis at various concentrations. However, caspase activity was not essential for docetaxel-induced cytotoxicity since cell death associated with lysosomal membrane permeabilization still occurred in the presence of caspase inhibitors. Partial inhibition of docetaxel-induced cytotoxicity was observed after inhibition of cathepsin B, but not inhibition of cathepsins D and L, suggesting that docetaxel induces caspase-independent, lysosomal cell death. Simultaneous inhibition of caspases and cathepsin B dramatically reduced docetaxel-induced cell death. Ectopic expression of lens epithelium-derived growth factor p75 (LEDGF/p75), a stress survival autoantigen and transcription co-activator, attenuated docetaxel-induced lysosomal destabilization and cell death. Interestingly, LEDGF/p75 overexpression did not protect cells against DTX-induced mitotic catastrophe, and against apoptosis induced by tumor necrosis factor related apoptosis inducing ligand (TRAIL), suggesting selectivity in its pro-survival activity. Conclusion These results underscore the ability of docetaxel to induce concomitantly caspase-dependent and independent death pathways in prostate cancer cells. The results also point to LEDGF/p75 as a potential contributor to cellular resistance to docetaxel-induced lysosomal destabilization and cell death, and an attractive candidate for molecular targeting in HRPC.