Oxygen carrying nanoemulsions and respiratory hyperoxia eliminate tumor hypoxia-induced suppression and improve cancer immunotherapy

Abstract Hypoxia-HIF-1α-driven immunosuppressive transcription and cAMP-elevating signaling through A2A-adenosine receptors (A2AR) represent a major tumor-protecting pathway that enables immune evasion. Recent promising clinical outcomes due to the blockade of the adenosine-generating enzyme CD73 and A2AR in patient’s refractory to all other therapies have confirmed the importance of targeting hypoxia-adenosinergic signaling. We report a novel and feasible approach to target the upstream stage of hypoxia-adenosinergic immunosuppression using an oxygen-carrying nanoemulsion (perfluorocarbon blood substitute). It is shown that oxygenation agent therapy i) eliminates tumor hypoxia, ii) improves efficacy of endogenously developed and adoptively transferred T cells, and thereby iii) promotes regression of tumors in different anatomical locations. We show that both T cells and NK cells avoid hypoxic tumor areas and that reversal of hypoxia by oxygenation agent therapy increases intratumoral infiltration of activated T cells and NK cells due to re-programming of the tumor microenvironment (TME). Thus, repurposing oxygenation agents in combination with supplemental oxygen may improve current cancer immunotherapies by preventing hypoxia-adenosinergic suppression, promoting immune cell infiltration and enhancing effector responses. These data also suggest that pretreating patients with oxygenation agent therapy may reprogram the TME from immune-suppressive to immune-permissive prior to adoptive cell therapy, or other forms of immunotherapy. Summary Oxygen delivering nanoemulsions and respiratory hyperoxia address limitations of blood vessel-mediated tumor oxygenation and promote anti-tumor immune responses to enhance immunotherapy.