CD47 blockade augmentation of trastuzumab antitumor efficacy dependent on antibody-dependent cellular phagocytosis

• Published in: JCI insight 2019-12, Vol.4 (24)
• Main Authors: Tsao, Li-Chung, Crosby, Erika J, Trotter, Timothy N, Agarwal, Pankaj, Hwang, Bin-Jin, Acharya, Chaitanya, Shuptrine, Casey W, Wang, Tao, Wei, Junping, Yang, Xiao, Lei, Gangjun, Liu, Cong-Xiao, Rabiola, Christopher A, Chodosh, Lewis A, Muller, William J, Lyerly, Herbert Kim, Hartman, Zachary C
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Antibody-Dependent Cell Cytotoxicity - drug effects; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols - pharmacology; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols - therapeutic use; Breast - pathology; Breast Neoplasms - drug therapy; Breast Neoplasms - immunology; Breast Neoplasms - mortality; Breast Neoplasms - pathology; CD47 Antigen - antagonists & inhibitors; CD47 Antigen - immunology; CD47 Antigen - metabolism; Cell Line, Tumor; Drug Synergism; Female; Humans; Immunity, Innate - drug effects; Macrophages - drug effects; Macrophages - immunology; Macrophages - metabolism; Mice; Phagocytosis - drug effects; Phagocytosis - immunology; Prognosis; Receptor, ErbB-2 - antagonists & inhibitors; Receptor, ErbB-2 - metabolism; Trastuzumab - pharmacology; Trastuzumab - therapeutic use; Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays
• ISSN: 2379-3708; 2379-3708
• DOI: 10.1172/jci.insight.131882

The HER2-specific monoclonal antibody (mAb), trastuzumab, has been the mainstay of therapy for HER2+ breast cancer (BC) for approximately 20 years. However, its therapeutic mechanism of action (MOA) remains unclear, with antitumor responses to trastuzumab remaining heterogeneous and metastatic HER2+ BC remaining incurable. Consequently, understanding its MOA could enable rational strategies to enhance its efficacy. Using both murine and human versions of trastuzumab, we found its antitumor activity dependent on Fcγ receptor stimulation of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) and antibody-dependent cellular phagocytosis (ADCP), but not cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC). Trastuzumab also stimulated TAM activation and expansion, but did not require adaptive immunity, natural killer cells, and/or neutrophils. Moreover, inhibition of the innate immune ADCP checkpoint, CD47, significantly enhanced trastuzumab-mediated ADCP and TAM expansion and activation, resulting in the emergence of a unique hyperphagocytic macrophage population, improved antitumor responses, and prolonged survival. In addition, we found that tumor-associated CD47 expression was inversely associated with survival in HER2+ BC patients and that human HER2+ BC xenografts treated with trastuzumab plus CD47 inhibition underwent complete tumor regression. Collectively, our study identifies trastuzumab-mediated ADCP as an important antitumor MOA that may be clinically enabled by CD47 blockade to augment therapeutic efficacy.