31st Annual Meeting and Associated Programs of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC 2016) : part two

Background The immunological escape of tumors represents one of the main ob- stacles to the treatment of malignancies. The blockade of PD-1 or CTLA-4 receptors represented a milestone in the history of immunotherapy. However, immune checkpoint inhibitors seem to be effective in specific cohorts of patients. It has been proposed that their efficacy relies on the presence of an immunological response. Thus, we hypothesized that disruption of the PD-L1/PD-1 axis would synergize with our oncolytic vaccine platform PeptiCRAd. Methods We used murine B16OVA in vivo tumor models and flow cytometry analysis to investigate the immunological background. Results First, we found that high-burden B16OVA tumors were refractory to combination immunotherapy. However, with a more aggressive schedule, tumors with a lower burden were more susceptible to the combination of PeptiCRAd and PD-L1 blockade. The therapy signifi- cantly increased the median survival of mice (Fig. 7). Interestingly, the reduced growth of contralaterally injected B16F10 cells sug- gested the presence of a long lasting immunological memory also against non-targeted antigens. Concerning the functional state of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), we found that all the immune therapies would enhance the percentage of activated (PD-1pos TIM- 3neg) T lymphocytes and reduce the amount of exhausted (PD-1pos TIM-3pos) cells compared to placebo. As expected, we found that PeptiCRAd monotherapy could increase the number of antigen spe- cific CD8+ T cells compared to other treatments. However, only the combination with PD-L1 blockade could significantly increase the ra- tio between activated and exhausted pentamer positive cells (p= 0.0058), suggesting that by disrupting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis we could decrease the amount of dysfunctional antigen specific T cells. We ob- served that the anatomical location deeply influenced the state of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. In fact, TIM-3 expression was in- creased by 2 fold on TILs compared to splenic and lymphoid T cells. In the CD8+ compartment, the expression of PD-1 on the surface seemed to be restricted to the tumor micro-environment, while CD4 + T cells had a high expression of PD-1 also in lymphoid organs. Interestingly, we found that the levels of PD-1 were significantly higher on CD8+ T cells than on CD4+ T cells into the tumor micro- environment (p < 0.0001). Conclusions In conclusion, we demonstrated that the efficacy of immune check- point inhibitors might be strongly enhanced by their combination with cancer vaccines. PeptiCRAd was able to increase the number of antigen-specific T cells and PD-L1 blockade prevented their exhaus- tion, resulting in long-lasting immunological memory and increased median survival

Probleme der westlichen China-Forschung Interessen, Quellen und Paradigmen

UuStB Koeln(38)-890106040 / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEDEGerman

Floating population and migration in China: the impact of economic reforms

SIGLEAvailable from Bibliothek des Instituts fuer Weltwirtschaft, ZBW, D-21400 Kiel A 215804 / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekDEGerman

Macht, Moral und Modernisierung Teil 2: Chinas Reformpolitik in der Krise

UuStB Koeln(38)-880106429 / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEDEGerman

Bevoelkerungspolitik und sozialer Wandel in der Volksrepublik China

SIGLEUuStB Koeln(38)-890106879 / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekDEGerman

Die chinesischen Studentenunruhen und ihre Ursachen

SIGLEUuStB Koeln(38)-870106597 / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekDEGerman

Migration in China's Guangdong Province: major results of a 1993 sample survey on migrants and floating population in Shenzhen and Foshan

Available from Bibliothek des Instituts fuer Weltwirtschaft, ZBW, D-21400 Kiel A 212220 / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEDEGerman

Abolishing the One-Child Policy: Stages, Issues and the Political Process

Based on a documentary, statistical and discourse analysis, plus 30 years of interviewing in China, this article investigates the demo-political background of China's return to a two-child policy in 2015. It pinpoints the contested core issues that fueled a bitter polemic on the future course of Chinese birth policy and continue to fester in ongoing controversies. The article briefly reviews earlier challenges to China's controversial one-child policy since its inception in 1979/80, details the conflicts and mechanisms shaping the birth planning regime since 2000, and examines the role played by academic counseling, bureaucratic infighting, lobbying and civil society in the about-turn. Comparing birth planning to other policy arenas, it concludes with a discussion of societal and think-tank impact on Chinese political decision-making