Cited by 778Cancer Immunotherapy and BiomarkersT-cell and B-cell ImmunologySignaling Pathways in Disease

CDK4/6 Inhibition Augments Antitumor Immunity by Enhancing T-cell Activation

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Deng, Jiehui, Wang, Eric S., Jenkins, Russell W., Li, Shuai, Dries, Ruben, Yates, Kathleen, Chhabra, Sandeep, Huang, Wei +39 more·2018·Cancer Discovery

Published version of a preprint

Abstract

Immune checkpoint blockade, exemplified by antibodies targeting the PD-1 receptor, can induce durable tumor regressions in some patients. To enhance the efficacy of existing immunotherapies, we screened for small molecules capable of increasing the activity of T cells suppressed by PD-1. Here, we show that short-term exposure to small-molecule inhibitors of cyclin-dependent kinases 4 and 6 (CDK4/6) significantly enhances T-cell activation, contributing to antitumor effects in vivo, due in part to the derepression of NFAT family proteins and their target genes, critical regulators of T-cell function. Although CDK4/6 inhibitors decrease T-cell proliferation, they increase tumor infiltration and activation of effector T cells. Moreover, CDK4/6 inhibition augments the response to PD-1 blockade in a novel ex vivo organotypic tumor spheroid culture system and in multiple in vivo murine syngeneic models, thereby providing a rationale for combining CDK4/6 inhibitors and immunotherapies. Significance: Our results define previously unrecognized immunomodulatory functions of CDK4/6 and suggest that combining CDK4/6 inhibitors with immune checkpoint blockade may increase treatment efficacy in patients. Furthermore, our study highlights the critical importance of identifying complementary strategies to improve the efficacy of immunotherapy for patients with cancer. Cancer Discov; 8(2); 216–33. ©2017 AACR. See related commentary by Balko and Sosman, p. 143. See related article by Jenkins et al., p. 196. This article is highlighted in the In This Issue feature, p. 127

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Crossref · 10.1158/2159-8290.cd-17-0915

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  • CDK4/6 inhibitors promote T cell activation and increase tumour-infiltrating T cells in PDOs grown in a microfluidic 3D chip.

    “cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors 4 and 6 (CDK4/6) facilitate T cell activation, resulting in a higher number of tumour-infiltrating T cells in PDOs, cultivated over several days in a microfluidic 3D chip setup.”

    From Human disease models in drug development (2023) · cites this paper as [129]

    The Results section reports that CDK4/6 inhibitors increased cytokines associated with T-cell responses in patient-derived tumor spheroids cultured in 3D microfluidic devices. The Introduction places the increase in tumor-infiltrating T cells in vivo, not in those spheroids. The cited paper therefore supports T-cell activation and the chip model, but not the claimed higher number of infiltrating T cells in that model. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • CDK4/6 inhibition was highly active in vitro and in vivo and synergized with anti-PD-1 antibodies.

    “CDK4/6 inhibition also showed high in vitro and in vivo activity and synergy with anti-PD-1 blocking antibodies129.”

    From Human disease models in drug development (2023) · cites this paper as [129]

  • CDK4/CDK6 inhibitors activate effector T cells through NFAT signaling and IL2 secretion.

    “activation of effector T (TEFF) cells upon nuclear factor of activated T cells 1 (NFATC1, best known as NFAT) signaling and interleukin-2 (IL2) secretion (Deng et al., 2018)”

    From Immunomodulation by targeted anticancer agents (2021) · cites this paper as Deng et al., 2018

  • In vitro, blocking CDK4/6 activates T cells that express PD-1 and increases T-cell infiltration.

    “CDK4/6 inhibition is also able to stimulate PD-1 expressing T-cells in vitro and enhance T cell infiltration (Deng et al., 2017).”

    From CDK4/6 Inhibitors: The Mechanism of Action May Not Be as Simple as Once Thought (2018) · cites this paper as Deng et al., 2017

  • The enhancement of T-cell infiltration by CDK4/6 inhibition is driven at least partly by CDK6-induced phosphorylation of NFAT4.

    “This enhancement is driven at least in part by CDK6-induced phosphorylation of NFAT4.”

    From CDK4/6 Inhibitors: The Mechanism of Action May Not Be as Simple as Once Thought (2018) · cites this paper as Deng et al., 2017

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Authors
Deng, J., Wang, E. S., Jenkins, R. W., Li, S., Dries, R., Yates, K., Chhabra, S., Huang, W., Liu, H., Aref, A. R., Ivanova, E., Paweletz, C. P., Bowden, M., Zhou, C. W., Herter-Sprie, G. S., Sorrentino, J. A., Bisi, J. E., Lizotte, P. H., Merlino, A. A., Quinn, M. M., Bufe, L. E., Yang, A., Zhang, Y., Zhang, H., Gao, P., Chen, T., Cavanaugh, M. E., Rode, A. J., Haines, E., Roberts, P. J., Strum, J. C., Richards, W. G., Lorch, J. H., Parangi, S., Gunda, V., Boland, G. M., Bueno, R., Palakurthi, S., Freeman, G. J., Ritz, J., Haining, W. N., Sharpless, N. E., Arthanari, H., Shapiro, G. I., Barbie, D. A., Gray, N. S., & Wong, K.-K.
Affiliations
  • NYU Langone Health (US)
  • Harvard University (US)
  • Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (US)
  • 9G1 Therapeutics, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.
  • Brigham and Women's Hospital (US)
  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
Corresponding author
  • Barbie, David A.
  • Gray, Nathanael S.
  • Wong, Kwok-Kin
Venue
Cancer Discovery
Published
2018-02-01
Volume
8
Issue
2
Pages
216-233
ISSN
  • 2159-8274 (ISSN-L)
  • 2159-8290
OpenAlex
W2766016994
Cited by
770
References
63
Citations by year
2026: 62 · 2025: 111 · 2024: 83 · 2023: 109 · 2022: 115 · 2021: 104 · 2020: 96 · 2019: 61 · 2018: 29
FWCI
22.43
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Cancer Discovery (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation (Damon Runyon) (DRG-2270-16)
  • HHS | NIH | National Cancer Institute (NCI) (CA154303-05, CA179483-03, P01CA120964, 5R01CA163896-04, 5R01CA140594-07, 5R01CA122794-10, 5R01CA166480-04)
  • Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) (Medical Oncology Discovery Grant)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer Immunotherapy and Biomarkers
  • Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Immunology › T-cell and B-cell Immunology
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Signaling Pathways in Disease
Keywords
CDK4/6 inhibitors, antitumor immunity, T cell activation, anti-PD-1 therapy, immune checkpoint blockade, combination immunotherapy, tumor-infiltrating T cells, small-molecule immunomodulators
MeSH terms
Antineoplastic Agents, Immunological, Animals, Antineoplastic Agents, Humans, Lymphocyte Activation, Neoplasms, T-Lymphocytes, Lymphocytes, Tumor-Infiltrating, Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays, Cell Line, Tumor, Protein Kinase Inhibitors, Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 4, Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 6, Mice

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