Anti-IL-23 monoclonal antibody synergizes in combination with targeted therapies or IL-2 to suppress tumor growth and metastases.

Immunosuppressive barricades erected by tumors during the evolution of immune escape represent a major obstacle to many potentially effective cancer therapies and vaccines. We have shown that host interleukin (IL)-23 suppresses the innate immune response during carcinogenesis and metastasis, independently of effects on the proinflammatory cytokine IL-17A. Based on these findings, we envisioned that IL-23 neutralization might offer a promising strategy to modulate immunosuppression, particularly in combination with immunostimulatory agents. Here we show that by itself a neutralizing monoclonal antibody (mAb) to IL-23 suppressed early experimental lung metastases in the B16F10 mouse model of melanoma and also modestly inhibited the subcutaneous growth of primary tumors. These antitumor effects were respectively mediated by natural killer cells or CD8(+) T cells. More notably, combinatorial treatments of anti-IL-23 mAb with IL-2 or anti-erbB2 mAb significantly inhibited subcutaneous growth of established mammary carcinomas and suppressed established experimental and spontaneous lung metastases. Overall, our results suggest the potential of anti-human IL-23 mAbs to improve the immunostimulatory effects of IL-2 and trastuzumab in the current management of some advanced human cancers.