TY - JOUR T1 - Combination Immunotherapy with 4-1BB Activation and PD-1 Blockade Enhances Antitumor Efficacy in a Mouse Model of Subcutaneous Tumor JF - Anticancer Research JO - Anticancer Res SP - 129 LP - 136 VL - 35 IS - 1 AU - YOSHITARO SHINDO AU - KIYOSHI YOSHIMURA AU - ATSUO KURAMASU AU - YUSAKU WATANABE AU - HIDEAKI ITO AU - TOMOKO KONDO AU - ATSUNORI OGA AU - HIROSHI ITO AU - SHIGEFUMI YOSHINO AU - SHOICHI HAZAMA AU - KOJI TAMADA AU - HIDEO YAGITA AU - MASAAKI OKA Y1 - 2015/01/01 UR - http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/35/1/129.abstract N2 - Background/Aim: The purpose of the present study was to establish an effective immunotherapy by skewing the cosignal balance to be on the positive side by using the combination of monoclonal antibody (mAb) against 4-1BB also known as Cluster of Differentiation (CD) 137 as a co-stimulatory effector and to programmed death-1 (PD-1) to blockade the immune checkpoint. Materials and Methods: Mice implanted with 1×105 CT26 cells were treated with anti 4-1BB mAb alone, anti PD-1 mAb alone, or both anti 4-1BB mAb and anti PD-1 mAb. Immune cell populations were analyzed by flow cytometry. Tumor-infiltrating T-cells were evaluated by immunohistochemistry. Results: Mice treated with the combination therapy had the best antitumor response that resulted in complete tumor rejection. The numbers of CD4+ interferon (IFN)-γ+ and CD8+ IFN-γ+ T-cells were significantly higher in the combination group. The number of tumor-infiltrating T-cells was significantly increased in the combination therapy. Conclusion: The therapeutic strategy of targeting co-signal molecules has promising clinical applications in the future. ER -