Interleukin-27 re-educates intratumoral myeloid cells and down-regulates stemness genes in non-small cell lung cancer

Current therapies for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) still fail to significantly increase its survival rate. Here we asked whether Interleukin(IL)-27, which has revealed powerful antitumor activity and is toxicity-free in humans, is a promising therapeutic choice for NSCLC patients. IL-27's effects were tested on Adenocarcinoma (AC) and Squamous Cell Carcinoma (SCC) cell lines and xenograft models. IL-27Receptor(R) expression was assessed in lung tissues from 78 NSCLC patients. In vitro, IL-27 was ineffective on cancer cell proliferation or apoptosis, but fostered CXCL3/GRO gamma/MIP2 beta expression. In vitro and in vivo, IL-27 down-regulated stemness-related genes, namely SONIC HEDGEHOG in AC cells, and OCT4A, SOX2, NOTCH1, KLF4 along with Nestin, SNAI1/SNAIL, SNAI2/SLUG and ZEB1, in SCC cells. In vivo, IL-27 hampered both AC and SCC tumor growth in association with a prominent granulocyte- and macrophage-driven colliquative necrosis, CXCL3 production, and a reduced pluripotency- and EMT-related gene expression. Myeloablation of tumor-bearing hosts mostly abolished IL-27's antitumor effects. In clinical samples, IL-27R expression was found in AC, SCC, pre-cancerous lesions and tumor infiltrating myeloid cells, and correlated with advanced stages of disease. Our data suggest that even immunocompromised or advancer NSCLC patients may benefit from IL-27's antitumor properties based on its ability to drive myeloid cells towards antitumor activities, and down-regulate stemness- and EMT-related genes in cancer cells.