Checkpoint inhibitor therapies can be thought of as the molecular “brake release” for the immune system. These drugs eliminate the protein barriers that block the immune system from recognizing and targeting cancer cells in the body. While there are multiple checkpoint inhibitors approved to treat different types of cancer, many patients don’t respond, or they develop resistance to available treatment options.
A Scripps Research team has now found that the Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor ruxolitinib, an approved immunosuppressive drug, supercharged T-cell responses when used alongside immune checkpoint inhibitors, boosting their effectiveness in fighting cancer. The researchers reported on studies in multiple preclinical infection and cancer models, and on findings from a Phase I clinical trial evaluating ruxolitinib with the anti–PD-1 immunotherapy nivolumab in Hodgkin lymphoma patients who relapsed or were refractory following checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapy. “There’s a lot of activity in developing the next generation of immunotherapies, and we’re looking beyond therapeutics that target T cells directly,” said co-senior author John Teijaro, PhD, a professor in the Department of Immunology and Microbiology at Scripps Research.
“Our results are particularly exciting because we are already seeing patients benefit from the combination and we believe this could be applied to several immunotherapy resistant cancers. It’s very rare to have supporting evidence .