Cancer

Mouse studies suggest FASL inhibitors could help treat immunotherapy-resistant melanoma. In a mouse model of immunotherapy-resistant melanoma, a fusion protein consisting of Fas receptor and the Fc region of murine IgG2A (Fas-Fc) that inhibits Fas receptor-FASL binding, followed by adoptive cell therapy with CD8⁺ T cells, decreased the number of apoptotic tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and tumor volume compared with adoptive T cell therapy alone. Also in the model, Fas-Fc plus an antibody against cytotoxic T-lymphocyte associated protein 4 (CTLA-4; CTLA4; CD152) or PD-1 decreased tumor growth compared with either antibody alone. Next steps could include identifying and testing other FASL inhibitors in additional models of cancer...