Abstract P2-24-02: Analyzing susceptibility to macrophage-activating immunotherapy bexmarilimab in breast cancer by using patient-derived tumor explants

Abstract

Abstract The immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment governed by tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) remains a major obstacle to effective cancer immunotherapy. A novel humanized antibody bexmarilimab, targeting the scavenger receptor Clever-1 on TAMs, has shown clinical benefit in ~40% of patients with late-stage ER+ breast cancer (MATINS; NCT03733990). To increase response rates, a comprehensive understanding on how TAM phenotype and the tumor immune landscape affect bexmarilimab-induced immune activation is needed. Single-cell RNA sequencing analysis of breast tumor macrophages shows high phenotypic variation across pathological subtypes and Clever-1 mRNA (STAB1) expression on various immunosuppressive IL4I1+ and TREM2+ monocyte-derived TAMs. STAB1 expressing macrophages were located in both lymphocyte rich and excluded areas in the tumor stroma based on digital spatial profiling with GeoMx. Due to this diversity, we studied bexmarilimab mode-of-action in breast cancer patient-derived tumor explant cultures (PDEC) by RNA sequencing and cytokine profiling. Our results show that bexmarilimab induced TNFα and CXCL10 secretion in 30-40% of the treated explants. In depth analysis of the responsive PDECs revealed a lower baseline expression of interferon responsive genes in their tumor microenvironment. Correspondingly, in vitro assays with primary human macrophages showed that chronic IFNγ priming abolished bexmarilimab-induced immune activation, suggesting potential use of bexmarilimab in patients with immunologically cold breast tumors. Citation Format: Jenna H. Rannikko, Reetta Virtakoivu, Akira Takeda, Pia Boström, Ilkka Koskivuo, Petri Bono, Maija Hollmén. Analyzing susceptibility to macrophage-activating immunotherapy bexmarilimab in breast cancer by using patient-derived tumor explants [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2022 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2022 Dec 6-10; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(5 Suppl):Abstract nr P2-24-02.