Anti-mPD-1 Reduces the Immuno-Suppressive Phenotype of Myeloid Subsets in the Murine Hepa 1-6 Tumor

AACR 2020 -- Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third leading cause of cancer related deaths and is refractory to standard chemo and radiation therapies. Hepa 1-6 is a murine model for HCC characterized by suppressive Arg1 expressing M2 tumor-associated macrophages (TAM) and reduced costimulatory molecule expression in dendritic cells (DC), which impairs T-cell activity. To expose new options for therapeutic intervention, we performed immunophenotypic analysis in subcutaneous Hepa 1-6 tumor-bearing mice treated with anti-mPD-1 mediated checkpoint inhibition. Flow cytometry was used to measure tumor infiltrates and provide a deep dive into the biology of the immune response.