Tumor-Binding IgG Combined with Dendritic Cell Stimuli Induces Anti-Tumor T Cell Immunity

While cancers grow in their hosts and evade host immunity through immunoediting and immunosuppression, tumors are rarely transmissible between individuals. Much like transplanted allogeneic organs, allogeneic tumors are reliably rejected by host T cells, even when the tumor and host share the same major histocompatibility complex (MHC) alleles, the most potent determinants of transplant rejection. How such tumor-eradicating immunity is initiated remains unknown, though elucidating this process could provide a roadmap for inducing similar responses against naturally arising tumors. We found that allogeneic tumor rejection is initiated by naturally occurring tumor-binding IgG antibodies, which enable dendritic cells (DC) to internalize tumor antigens and subsequently activate tumor-reactive T cells. We exploited this mechanism to successfully treat autologous and autochthonous tumors. Either systemic administration of DC loaded with allogeneic IgG (alloIgG)-coated tumor cells or intratumoral injection of alloIgG in combination with DC stimuli induced potent T cell mediated anti-tumor immune responses, resulting in tumor eradication in mouse models of melanoma, pancreas, lung and breast cancer. Moreover, this strategy led to eradication of distant tumors and metastases, as well as the injected primary tumors. To assess the clinical relevance of these findings, we studied antibodies and cells from patients with lung cancer. T cells from these patients responded vigorously to autologous tumor antigens after culture with alloIgG-loaded DC, recapitulating our findings in mice. These results reveal that tumor-binding alloIgG can induce powerful anti-tumor immunity that can be exploited for cancer immunotherapy.