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  • The effects of T-DXd on the...
    Nakajima, Shotaro; Mimura, Kosaku; Matsumoto, Takuro; Thar Min, Aung Kyi; Ito, Misato; Nakano, Hiroshi; Neupane, Prajwal; Kanke, Yasuyuki; Okayama, Hirokazu; Saito, Motonobu; Momma, Tomoyuki; Watanabe, Yohei; Hanayama, Hiroyuki; Hayase, Suguru; Saze, Zenichiro; Kono, Koji

    Scientific reports, 08/2021, Volume: 11, Issue: 1
    Journal Article

    Abstract Trastuzumab deruxtecan (T-DXd), a HER2-targeting antibody–drug conjugate with a topoisomerase I inhibitor deruxtecan (DXd), exhibits an excellent anti-tumor effect in previously treated HER2-positive tumors. A recent study demonstrated that T-DXd not only suppressed tumor growth but also enhanced anti-tumor immunity through increasing the number of tumor-infiltrating CD8 + T cells and enhancement of major-histocompatibility-complex class I expression on tumor cells in a mouse model. However, the effect of T-DXd on anti-tumor immune responses in human cancers is largely unknown. We investigated the effect of T-DXd on the expression of HLA class I and CXCL9/10/11, T-cell chemoattractants, in HER2-positive human gastric cancer (GC) cells. We found that T-DXd significantly inhibited GC cell proliferation in a HER2-dependent manner, while it slightly increased the expression of HLA class I in HER2-positive GC cells. Moreover, we revealed that T-DXd significantly induced mRNA expression of CXCL9/10/11 in HER2-positive GC cells. T-DXd-triggered up-regulation of these chemokines was mediated through the activation of DNA damage signaling pathways. These results suggest that T-DXd triggers anti-tumor immune responses at least in part through induction of the expression of HLA class I and CXCL9/10/11 on HER2-positive GC cells, resulting in the enhancement of anti-tumor immunity in human GC.