Immunological mechanisms of the antitumor effects of supplemental oxygenation

SM Hatfield, J Kjaergaard, D Lukashev… - Science translational …, 2015 - science.org
SM Hatfield, J Kjaergaard, D Lukashev, TH Schreiber, B Belikoff, R Abbott
Science translational medicine, 2015science.org
Antitumor T cells either avoid or are inhibited in hypoxic and extracellular adenosine-rich
tumor microenvironments (TMEs) by A2A adenosine receptors. This may limit further
advances in cancer immunotherapy. There is a need for readily available and safe
treatments that weaken the hypoxia–A2-adenosinergic immunosuppression in the TME.
Recently, we reported that respiratory hyperoxia decreases intratumoral hypoxia and
concentrations of extracellular adenosine. We show that it also reverses the hypoxia …
Antitumor T cells either avoid or are inhibited in hypoxic and extracellular adenosine-rich tumor microenvironments (TMEs) by A2A adenosine receptors. This may limit further advances in cancer immunotherapy. There is a need for readily available and safe treatments that weaken the hypoxia–A2-adenosinergic immunosuppression in the TME. Recently, we reported that respiratory hyperoxia decreases intratumoral hypoxia and concentrations of extracellular adenosine. We show that it also reverses the hypoxia-adenosinergic immunosuppression in the TME. This, in turn, stimulates (i) enhanced intratumoral infiltration and reduced inhibition of endogenously developed or adoptively transfered tumor-reactive CD8 T cells, (ii) increased proinflammatory cytokines and decreased immunosuppressive molecules, such as transforming growth factor–β (TGF-β), (iii) weakened immunosuppression by regulatory T cells, and (iv) improved lung tumor regression and long-term survival in mice. Respiratory hyperoxia also promoted the regression of spontaneous metastasis from orthotopically grown breast tumors. These effects are entirely T cell– and natural killer cell–dependent, thereby justifying the testing of supplemental oxygen as an immunological coadjuvant to combine with existing immunotherapies for cancer.
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