[EN] USE OF SK2 INHIBITORS IN COMBINATION WITH IMMUNE CHECKPOINT BLOCKADE THERAPY FOR THE TREATMENT OF CANCER<br/>[FR] UTILISATION D'INHIBITEURS DE SK2 EN ASSOCIATION AVEC UNE THÉRAPIE DE BLOCAGE DE POINT DE CONTRÔLE IMMUNITAIRE POUR LE TRAITEMENT DU CANCER
申请人:INST NAT SANTE RECH MED
公开号:WO2020208060A1
公开(公告)日:2020-10-15
Immune checkpoint blockade therapy is based on the inhibition of the tumor-mediated suppression of anticancer immune responses. However, the efficacy and effectiveness of said therapy vary greatly across individual patients and among different tumor types. A substantial unmet need is thus to identify novel targets that can enhance the therapeutic efficacy of the immune checkpoint blockade therapy. S1P is produced by sphingosine kinases (i.e. SK1 and SK2) that catalyze the phosphorylation of sphingosine to S1P. SK2 inhibitors were described as suitable for the treatment of cancer. However the role of SK2 in the immune tumor microenvironment has never been investigated. The inventors now showed that genetic deletion of SPHK2 leads to a delay in the melanoma tumor growth and an increase in tumor-infiltrating effector lymphocytes. In particular the increase of tumor-infiltrating effector lymphocytes in the tumor is associated with a decrease in the amount of tumor-infiltrating myeloid-derived suppressor cells. Moreover, the combination of SPHK2 deficiency with immune-checkpoint blockade leads to tumor rejection and increases survival rate. Accordingly, the present invention relates to use of SK2 inhibitors in combination with immune checkpoint blockade therapy for the treatment of cancer.