Efficacy of oncolytic adenovirus expressing suicide genes and interleukin-12 in preclinical model of prostate cancer

Abstract

Oncolytic adenovirus-mediated suicide gene therapy has been shown to improve local tumor control in preclinical tumor models and in the clinic. Although local tumor control is important, for most human cancers, new therapies must also target metastatic disease if they are to have an impact on survival. Here, we test the hypothesis that adding cytokine gene therapy to our multimodal platform improves both local and metastatic tumor control in a preclinical model of prostate cancer. An oncolytic adenovirus (Ad5-yCD/mutTKSR39rep-mIL12) expressing two suicide genes and mouse interleukin-12 (IL-12) was generated. Relative to an adenovirus lacking IL-12 (Ad5-yCD/mutTKSR39rep), Ad5-yCD/mutTKSR39rep-mIL12 improved local and metastatic tumor control in the TRAMP-C2 prostate adenocarcinoma model, resulting in a significant increase in survival. Ad5-yCD/mutTKSR39rep-mIL12 resulted in high levels of IL-12 and interferon gamma in serum and tumor, increased natural killer (NK) and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte lytic activities, and the development of tumor-specific antitumor immunity. Immune cell depletion studies indicated that both the innate and adaptive arms of immunity were required for maximal Ad5-yCD/mutTKSR39rep-mIL12 activity. The results demonstrate that the addition of IL-12 significantly improves the efficacy of oncolytic adenovirus-mediated suicide gene therapy and provide the scientific basis for future trials targeting locally aggressive cancers.