Immunotherapy against Metastatic Melanoma with Human iPS Cell-Derived Myeloid Cell Lines Producing Type I Interferons

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K19694
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Dermatology
• Research Institution: Kumamoto University
• Principal Investigator: Miyashita Azusa 熊本大学, 医学部附属病院, 病院教員 (20467989)
• Research Collaborator: SENJU Satoru
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 癌免疫療法 / 悪性黒色腫 / iPS細胞

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The purpose of this study is to develop new immune cell therapy using iPS cells for malignant melanoma. We focused on macrophages for immune cell therapy because the macrophage infiltration is frequently observed in solids cancers. We have decided to use iPS cell-derived macropage which genetically modified to express type I IFNs for treatment against melanoma. We call them iPS cell-derived myeloid cell lines expressing type I IFNs (iPS-ML-IFNs).
In this study, we examined the efficacy of human iPS-ML-IFNs against human melanoma cells. The iPS-ML-IFNs exhibited significant effects in inhibiting the growth of the tumors against the disseminated human melanoma cells in SCID mice. On the other hand, treatment with iPS-ML without IFNs demonstrated no inhibitory effect on cancer cell growth.
We believe this method will provide a new therapeutic modality for metastatic melanoma.

Free Research Field

皮膚悪性腫瘍