CXCL2 combined with HVJ-E suppresses tumor growth and lung metastasis in breast cancer and enhances anti-PD-1 antibody therapy

Breast cancer has a high risk of metastasis; however, no effective treatment has been established. We developed a novel immunotherapy for breast cancer to enhance cytotoxic T lymphocytes against cancer cells using N1-type neutrophils with anti-tumor properties. For this purpose, we combined CXCL2 (CXC chemokine ligand 2) plasmid DNA with inactivated Sendai virus (hemagglutinating virus of Japan)-envelope (HVJ-E). The combination of CXCL2 DNA and HVJ-E (C/H) suppressed the growth of murine breast cancers in orthotopic syngeneic models by enhancing cytotoxic T lymphocytes and inhibited lung metastasis of breast cancer from primary lesions. N1-type neutrophils (CD11b(+) Ly6G(+) FAS(+)) increased in the tumor microenvironment with C/H treatment, and tumor suppression and cytotoxic T lymphocyte activation from C/H was blocked after administrating anti-neutrophil antibodies, which indicates the role of N1-type neutrophils in cancer immunotherapy. We also demonstrated that the anti-tumor activities of C/H treatment were enhanced by the administration of anti-PD-1 antibodies through neutrophil-mediated cytotoxic T lymphocyte activation. Thus, the triple combination of C/H and anti-PD-1 antibody C/H treatment may provide an improvement in cancer immunotherapy.