Brent A. Hanks, MD, PhD, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, provides an overview of the tumor-intrinsic NLRP3 inflammasome’s correlation with signs of inflammatory colitis in mice undergoing anti-PD-1 immunotherapy. The proposed etiology involves NLRP3-driven imprinting in the bone marrow that stimulates the increased production of neutrophils in the colon tissue, which activate inflammatory responses upon anti-PD-1 exposure. When tumors were modified to increase NLRP3 expression, mice were at a greater risk of developing signs of inflammatory colitis, and when treated with an NLRP3 inhibitor, there was a reduction in these signs, as well as suppression in tumor progression. NLRP3 inhibitors present a promising treatment for patients with anti-PD-1 derived inflammatory colitis, without interfering with PD-1 inhibitors’ efficacy. This interview took place at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer’s (SITC) 38th Annual Meeting in San Diego, CA.
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