Development of Engineered T Cells Expressing a Chimeric CD16-CD3ζ Receptor to Improve the Clinical Efficacy of Mogamulizumab Therapy Against Adult T-Cell Leukemia

Purpose: Mogamulizumab (Mog), a humanized anti-CC chemokine receptor 4 (CCR4) mAb that mediates antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) using Fc gamma R IIIa (CD16)-expressing effector cells, has recently been approved for treatment of CCR4-positive adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) in Japan. However, Mog failure has sometimes been observed in patients who have accompanying chemotherapy-associated lymphocytopenia. In this study, we examined whether adoptive transfer of artificial ADCC effector cells combined with Mog would overcome this drawback. Experimental Design: We lentivirally gene-modified peripheral blood T cells from healthy volunteers and ATL patients expressing the affinity-increased chimeric CD16-CD3 zeta receptor (cCD16 zeta-T cells). Subsequently, we examined the ADCC effect mediated by those cCD16 zeta-T cells in the presence of Mog against ATL tumor cells both in vitro and in vivo. Results: cCD16 zeta-T cells derived from healthy donors killed in vitro Mog-opsonized ATL cell line cells (n = 7) and primary ATL cells (n = 4) depending on both the number of effector cells and the dose of the antibody. cCD16 zeta-T cells generated from ATL patients (n = 3) also exerted cytocidal activity in vitro against Mogopsonized autologous ATL cells. Using both intravenously disseminated model (n = 5) and subcutaneously inoculated model (n = 4), coadministration of Mog and human cCD16 zeta-T cells successfully suppressed tumor growth in xenografted immunodeficient mice, and significantly prolonged their survival (P < 0.01 and P = 0.02, respectively). Conclusions: These data strongly suggest clinical feasibility of the novel combined adoptive immunotherapy using cCD16 zeta-T cells and Mog for treatment of aggressive ATL, particularly in patients who are ineligible for allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. (C) 2016 AACR.