Cancer immunotherapy by disrupting PD-1/PD-L1 signaling
The disclosure provides a method for immunotherapy of a subject afflicted with cancer, comprises administering to the subject a composition comprising a therapeutically effective amount of an antibody that inhibits signaling from the PD-1/PD-L1 signaling pathway. This disclosure also provides a method for immunotherapy of a subject afflicted with cancer comprising selecting a subject that is a suitable candidate for immunotherapy based on an assessment that the proportion of cells in a test tissue sample from the subject that express PD-L1 on the cell surface exceeds a predetermined threshold level, and administering a therapeutically effective amount of an anti-PD-1 antibody to the selected subject. The invention additionally provides rabbit mAbs that bind specifically to a cell surface-expressed PD-L1 antigen in a FFPE tissue sample, and an automated IHC method for assessing cell surface expression in FFPE tissues using the provided anti-PD-L1 Abs.
1. A method of treating a late stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tumor in a human subject, comprising administering to the subject about 10 mg/kg of an anti-PD-L1 antibody every 2 weeks, wherein the anti-PD-L1 antibody is administered intravenously over 60 minutes infusion; wherein the subject is pretreated for a chemotherapy and a radiotherapy; and wherein at least 1% of tumor cells in the tumor exhibit membrane PD-L1 expression.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the tumor is Stage IV NSCLC.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the tumor is advanced or recurrent.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the tumor is metastatic.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the subject has previously had a stage I and/or II tumor that has surgically been removed.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the treating lasts more than 12 weeks.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the anti-PD-L1 antibody is formulated in a pharmaceutical composition.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the pharmaceutical composition further comprises a pharmaceutically acceptable salt, an anti-oxidant, an aqueous carrier, a non-aqueous carrier, or any combination thereof.
9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the pharmaceutical composition comprises a preservative, a wetting agent, an emulsifying agent, a dispersing agent, or any combination thereof.
10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the salt comprises a sodium salt.
11. The method of claim 8 , wherein the salt comprises sodium chloride.
12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising administering an anti-cancer agent.
13. The method of claim 2 , further comprising administering an anti-cancer agent.
14. The method of claim 3 , further comprising administering an anti-cancer agent.
15. The method of claim 4 , further comprising administering an anti-cancer agent.
16. The method of claim 5 , further comprising administering an anti-cancer agent.
17. The method of claim 6 , further comprising administering an anti-cancer agent.
18. The method of claim 12 , wherein the anti-cancer agent is an anti-CTLA-4 antibody.
19. The method of claim 13 , wherein the anti-cancer agent is an anti-CTLA-4 antibody.
20. The method of claim 14 , wherein the anti-cancer agent is an anti-CTLA-4 antibody.
21. The method of claim 15 , wherein the anti-cancer agent is an anti-CTLA-4 antibody.
22. The method of claim 16 , wherein the anti-cancer agent is an anti-CTLA-4 antibody.
23. The method of claim 17 , wherein the anti-cancer agent is an anti-CTLA-4 antibody.
24. The method of claim 1 , further comprising measuring membranous PD-L1 expression on tumor cells prior to administering the anti-PD-L1 antibody.
25. The method of claim 24 , wherein the measuring comprises an immunohistochemistry.
26. The method of claim 25 , wherein the immunohistochemistry is performed using an antibody comprising:
(a) a heavy chain (HC) complementarity determining region (CDR) 1 comprising the amino acid sequence set forth in the HC-CDR1 of SEQ ID NO: 35;
(b) an HC-CDR2 comprising the amino acid sequence set forth in the HC-CDR2 of SEQ ID NO: 35;
(c) an HC-CDR3 comprising the amino acid sequence set forth in the HC-CDR3 of SEQ ID NO: 35;
(d) a light chain (LC) CDR1 comprising the amino acid sequence set forth in the LC-CDR1 of SEQ ID NO: 36;
(e) an LC-CDR2 comprising the amino acid sequence set forth in the LC-CDR2 of SEQ ID NO: 36; and
(f) an LC-CDR3 comprising the amino acid sequence set forth in the LC-CDR3 of SEQ ID NO: 36.