Enhancing the therapeutic activity of an immune checkpoint inhibitor

1. A method of treating cancer in a subject comprising,

identifying a subject that has been diagnosed with cancer;

administering an immune checkpoint inhibitor, wherein the immune checkpoint inhibitor comprises a PD-1 antibody; and

administering an antagonist of denatured collagen or an antigen-binding fragment thereof, wherein the antagonist of denatured collagen comprises an antagonist of the XL313 cryptic collagen epitope, wherein the antagonist comprises the XL313 monoclonal antibody deposited with ATCC accession number PTA-6552, wherein the XL313 monoclonal antibody binds a cryptic RGDKGE (SEQ ID NO. 1) containing collagen epitope, and

thereby treating cancer in said subject.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein said antagonist of denatured collagen or an antigen-binding fragment thereof enhances anti-tumor activity of the immune checkpoint inhibitor.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the subject is a human.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the cancer is selected from the group comprising of melanoma, central nervous system (CNS) cancer, CNS germ cell tumor, lung cancer, leukemia, multiple myeloma, renal cancer, malignant glioma, medulloblastoma, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, prostate cancer, bladder cancer, fibrosarcoma, pancreatic cancer, gastric cancer, head and neck cancer, colorectal cancer, a cancer cell derived from a solid cancer or hematological cancer, wherein the hematological cancer is a leukemia or a lymphoma, wherein the leukemia is acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL), chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) or acute monocytic leukemia (AMoL), or wherein the lymphoma is follicular lymphoma, Hodgkin's lymphoma, or Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, wherein the Hodgkin's lymphoma is Nodular sclerosing subtype, mixed-cellularity subtype, lymphocyte-rich subtype, or lymphocyte depleted subtype; wherein the cancer is a solid cancer comprising melanoma.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein said immune checkpoint inhibitor is administered at a dose of 0.01-10 mg/kg bodyweight, and wherein said antagonist of collagen is administered at a dose of 0.01-25 mg/kg bodyweight.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein said composition is administered once per hour, or wherein said composition is administered once every two weeks for 4 to 6 weeks.