Antibody-
cytokine fusion
proteins are being considered as biopharmaceuticals for
cancer immunotherapy.
Tumor-homing
cytokine fusions typically display an improved therapeutic activity compared to the corresponding unmodified
cytokine products, but toxicity profiles at equivalent doses are similar, since side effects are mainly driven by the
cytokine concentration in blood. In order to explore avenues to harness the therapeutic potential of antibody-
cytokine fusions while decreasing potential toxicity, we compared bolus and fractionated administration modalities for two
tumor-targeting antibody-
cytokine fusion
proteins based on human
interleukin-2 (
IL2) and murine
tumor necrosis factor (TNF) (i.e., L19-hIL2 and L19-mTNF) in two murine immunocompetent mouse models of
cancer (F9 and C51). A comparative quantitative biodistribution analysis with radio-labeled
protein preparations revealed that a fractionated administration of L19-hIL2 could deliver comparable product doses to the
tumor with decreased product concentration in blood and normal organs, compared to bolus injection. By contrast, L19-mTNF (a product that causes a selective vascular shutdown in the
tumor) accumulated most efficiently after bolus injection. Fractionated schedules allowed the safe administration of a cumulative dose of L19-mTNF, which was 2.5-times higher than the lethal dose for bolus injection. Dose fractionation led to a prolonged
tumor growth inhibition for F9
teratocarcinomas, but not for C51
colorectal tumors, which responded best to bolus injection. Thus, dose fractionation may have different outcomes for the same antibody-
cytokine product in different biological contexts.