The
antineoplastic effects of
anthracyclines have been shown to rely, at least in part, on a local immune response that involves dendritic cells (DCs) and several distinct subsets of T lymphocytes. Here, we show that the administration of
anthracyclines to mice bearing established
neoplasms stimulates the intratumoral secretion of
tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα). However, blocking the TNFα/
TNF receptor (TNFR) system by three different strategies-namely, (1)
neutralizing antibodies, (2)
etanercept, a
recombinant protein in which TNFR is fused to the constant domain of an
IgG1 molecule, and (3) gene knockout-failed to negatively affect the therapeutic efficacy of
anthracyclines in three distinct
tumor models. In particular, TNFα-blocking strategies did not influence the
antineoplastic effects of
doxorubicin (a prototypic
anthracycline) against MCA205
fibrosarcomas growing in C57BL/6 mice, F244
sarcomas developing in 129/Sv hosts and H2N100 mammary
carcinomas arising in BALB/c mice. These findings imply that, in contrast to other
cytokines (such as
interleukin-1β,
interleukin-17 and
interferon γ), TNFα is not required for
anthracyclines to elicit therapeutic anticancer immune responses.