Abstract
Therapeutic monoclonal antibodies targeting immune checkpoints (ICPs) have changed the treatment landscape of many tumors. However, response rate remains relatively low in most cases. A major factor involved in initial resistance to ICP inhibitors is the lack or paucity of tumor T cell infiltration, characterizing the so-called “cold tumors.” In this review, we describe the main mechanisms involved in the absence of T cell infiltration, including lack of tumor antigens, defect in antigen presentation, absence of T cell activation and deficit of homing into the tumor bed. We discuss then the different therapeutic approaches that could turn cold into hot tumors. In this way, specific therapies are proposed according to their mechanism of action. In addition, ‘‘supra-physiological’’ therapies, such as T cell recruiting bispecific antibodies and Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T cells, may be active regardless of the mechanism involved, especially in MHC class I negative tumors. The determination of the main factors implicated in the lack of preexisting tumor T cell infiltration is crucial for the development of adapted algorithms of treatments for cold tumors.
Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have changed the treatment landscape of many tumors, inducing durable responses in some cases, Tumor mutational load, CD8+ T cell density and Programmed cell Death Ligand−1 (PD-L1) expression have each been proposed as distinct biomarkers of response to PD-1/-L1 antagonists. The lymphocyte infiltration and IFN-γ status may be key factors for effective anti-PD-1/-L1 therapy by defining a “T cell inflamed” phenotype (“hot tumors”). In contrast, lack of T cells infiltrating the tumor characterizes “non-inflamed” or “cold tumors” (in which other immune populations or myeloid cells can however be observed). Immunological treatment of cold tumors is a great challenge as no adaptive immune response has been set up or maintained. In this review, we discuss the possible issues that the immune system could encounter at different steps of the anti-tumor immune cycle (), leading to the absence of T cell infiltration: lack of tumor antigens, defect in Antigen Presenting Cells (APCs), absence of T cell activation and deficit of homing into the tumor bed (Figure 1). The potential therapeutic strategies to overcome these problems will be described in the second part of this review. We will not discuss here the mechanisms of immune escape developed by inflamed tumors, reviewed elsewhere ().
Figure 1
Lack of Tumor Antigens
Tumor antigens can be divided into three main classes: tumor specific antigens (TSA), cancer-germline antigens (CGA), and tumor associated antigens (TAA) (
Tumor mutation burden (TMB) is a quantitative measure of the total number of mutations per coding area of a tumor genome that has been shown to predict responses to ICIs in a range of advanced cancers (
Absence of T Cell Priming/Activation
Defective Recruitment of APCs
The second step of the anti-tumor immune response consists in the presentation of tumor antigens by dendritic cells (DCs), resulting in the priming and activation of specific effector T cells. Several DCs subsets such as classical DCs (type 1 cDC1s and type 2 cDC2s), Langerhans cells, inflammatory DCs and plasmacytoid DCs (pDCs) exist and are specialized in different functions to shape the immune response and cope with the threat of diversity (
Among DCs, cDC1s excel at inducing anti-tumoral CD8 T cell responses through cross-presentation of exogenous antigens on MHC-I (
Lack of T Cell Co-stimulation and Activation After Antigen Presentation
The maturation and activation of antigen-presenting DCs is a critical step for activating an efficient T cell-response. In this context, the DC activation marker DC-LAMP is a good prognostic marker in solid tumors (
Stimulation of CD40 on APCs through CD40L expressed on helper CD4+ T cells is another crucial step for the activation of APCs to prime CD8+ T cells. Moreover, the stimulation of CD40 on DCs regulates the expression of the co-stimulatory molecules CD80 and CD86, enhances the production of cytokines (most notably IL-12 and IFN-I) and promotes the cross-priming to exogenous antigens (
Deficit of Homing to the Tumor Bed
CD8+ T Cell Exclusion by the Immunosuppressive Peritumoral Stroma and Tumor Cell Alterations
When DCs are mature and T-cells correctly primed and activated, the access of T cell to the tumor bed could be compromised by the stromal compartment (
Tauriello et al. investigated how genetic alterations and the tumor microenvironment (TME) interact in a metastatic colorectal carcinoma (CRC) model. A Tumor Growth Factor (TGF)-β activity correlating with T cell exclusion and a low TMB was described (
Modified Production of Chemokines and Cytokines Affecting Cell Trafficking and Activation
Cytokines and chemokines may influence cell trafficking to the tumor bed. Besides the steady-state influx of immature dendritic cells (iDCs) within tissues, chemokines, abundantly secreted under inflammatory conditions, can provoke influx of iDCs in the tumor bed (
The deregulation of trafficking can directly involve T cells: DCs-activated T cells against tumor antigens have to reach the tumor bed to perform their anti-cancer activity. Tumors can disrupt chemokine expression to deregulate the immune response and chemokines involved in effector T-cell recruitment is significantly reduced in tumors lacking a CD8+ T-cell infiltrate. CXCL9 and CXCL10 (CXCL11 in humans) are key chemokines in the recruitment of CD8+ T cells engaging the CXCR3 on their surface and their production is generally deregulated in “non-inflamed” tumors (
Therapeutic Approaches
Different therapeutic approaches can theoretically be used to overcome the absence of T cell infiltration in tumors. These strategies are summarized in Figure 2. The demonstration that these therapies can effectively transform a cold into hot tumor remains to be done in the clinic in most instances.
Figure 2

Specific and common approaches to overcome the absence of T cells in tumors. According to the mechanism involved in the lack of T cell infiltration in tumors, specific therapies can be selected. In the case of MHC-I negative tumors or if specific therapies are not sufficient, “supra-physiological therapies” can be used.
Specific Therapies for Tumors Expressing Few Antigens
Demethylating Agents
It has been shown that DNA methyltransferase inhibitors (DNMTi) and histone deacetylase inhibitors can enhance the expression of tumor antigens and components of antigen processing and presenting machinery pathways, as well as other immune related genes (
NK Cell-Based Approaches
Natural killer (NK) cells are lymphocytes of the innate immune system able to recognize and kill tumors lacking self-MHC class I molecules, by recognizing stressed cells. For this reason NK approaches could be suitable in the absence of tumor antigens or in case of deficient antigen presentation machinery (e.g., lack of MHC class I). While a large portion of cancer immunotherapies focus on targeting T cells, NK cell system for therapeutic intervention stays relatively underexplored. Nevertheless, different NK cell-based approaches have been described, such as ex vivo activated NK cells or NK cells transduced with a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) to target specific cancer cell surface antigen (
Specific Therapies for Tumors With Defective Priming or T Cell Activation
Chemo/Radiotherapy Inducing Immunogenic Cell Death (ICD)
Several chemotherapies were found to work mainly in immunocompetent subjects, accumulating evidences that tumor inhibition partially relies on the immune system competence and not only on the direct anti-tumor toxicity of chemotherapy (
Oncolytic Viruses
Oncolytic viruses are common viruses that can selectively target, replicate in and destroy cancer cells (
PRR Agonists
PRRs consist of five families including Toll-like receptors (TLRs), RIG-I-like receptors (RLRs), nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain (NOD)-like receptors (NLRs), C-type lectin receptors (CLRs), and cytoplasmic DNA sensors. PRRs agonists have notably the ability to activate PRR pathways inducing antigen presentation by myeloid cells residing in the tumor micro-environment (
TLR agonists showed controversial results in pre-clinical studies by either promoting or inhibiting tumor progression depending on the TLR and the tumor type (
STING has been shown to play an important role in the innate immune response against cancer. In the TME, tumor cell DNA detected by APCs is correlated with activation of STING pathway that leads to IFN-β production (
CD 40 Agonistic Antibodies
CD40 is broadly expressed on immune cells, predominantly on DCs, B cells and macrophages. A major role of CD40 signaling is to activate and “license” DCs to prime effective cytotoxic CD8+ T cell responses. CD40 signaling can also be effectively triggered using agonistic antibodies or CD40L, thus bypassing the need for CD4+ helper T cells (
Tumor Vaccines
The therapeutic breakthrough provided by ICIs and the demonstration of the role of MANA in T-cell mediated antitumor response have paved the way for a next generation of personalized cancer vaccines based on the use of MANA specific of the tumor. Preclinical results showed induction of efficient antitumor response and clinical trials providing a clinical proof of concept in melanoma have been published (
Specific Therapies for Tumors With Impaired T Cell Trafficking to the Tumor
TGF-β Blocking Antibodies and TGF-β-Receptor Antagonists
TGF-β has been involved in cell proliferation, angiogenesis, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, immune infiltration, metastases dissemination, and drug resistance (
Anti-angiogenic Therapies
The clinical activity of anti-angiogenic drugs is modest when used as single agent. However, it has been shown that anti-angiogenic drugs normalize the tumor vasculature and induce the upregulation of the leukocyte adhesion molecules ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 on tumor endothelial cells (
Immunocytokines
Cytokines such as IL-2, TNF, IL-12 mediate the influx and expansion of leukocytes at the tumor site. However, these cytokines, and especially IL-12, induce significant toxicity when administrated systemically in clinical trials (
Therapeutic Approaches Active in Different Immune Contexts
Adoptive T Cell Therapy and Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T Cells
Historically, cell-based therapies have focused on cytotoxic T cells targeting MHC-restricted antigens. This approach remains promising, in particular with the development of T cell receptor (TCR)-engineered T cells (
T-Cell Recruiting Bi-specific Antibodies
Bi-specific antibodies (bsAbs) are engineered antibodies that can bind two different antigens. One of the main strategies in the development of bsAbs is the recruitment and activation of immune effector T cells by targeting CD3 domain of the TCR complex (T-cell recruiting bsAbs) together with another antigen abnormally expressed on the tumor cell surface. The approval of catumaxomab (anti-epitelial cell adhesion molecule EpCAM and anti-CD3) and blinatumomab (anti-CD19 and anti-CD3) has become a major milestone in the development of bsAbs. BsAbs can be divided into two categories: immunoglobulin G (IgG)-like molecules and non-IgG-like molecules. Non-IgG-like bsAbs are smaller in size, leading to enhanced tissue penetration, but shorter half-life (
Table 1
| CAR T-Cells | Bi-specific antibodies | |
|---|---|---|
| Mechanism of action |
|
|
| Administration |
|
|
| Tissue penetration |
|
|
| Toxicity |
|
|
| Main diseases |
|
|
| Other limitations |
|
|
| Cost and availability |
|
|
Comparison between CAR T-cells and T-cell recruiting bi-specific antibodies.
Perspectives
Changing the natural history of a tumor characterized by the absence of T cells remains a great therapeutic challenge. However, as discussed above, many therapeutic approaches can be evaluated in this context. A major issue will be to determine the origin of this lack of T cell response to adapt the therapy to the physiology of the tumor. Figure 2 summarizes the possibilities of treatment according to this tumor context.
Conventional anticancer approaches like chemotherapy and radiotherapy have still a room in the therapeutic armamentarium, not only to potentially induce ICD but also to reduce the tumor burden and thus potentially decrease the selection of immune-resistant clones. In other cases, “in situ” vaccination using PRR or CD40 agonists may be used to induce a specific immune antitumor response against naturally presented tumor antigens. Personalized cancer vaccines also represent a very promising strategy especially in highly mutated tumors. Finally, “supra-physiological” approaches like CAR T cells or T-cell recruiting bsAbs could be efficient in tumors characterized by the absence of MHC expression or even LOH of the HLA alleles presenting tumor antigens. It is likely that in the near future, algorithms of treatment will be developed to adapt the therapeutic strategy to the immune context of the tumor, considering also space and time evolution for adequate sequential strategies. At the end, while the efficacy of the therapy in inflamed tumors depends principally in the remove of the breaks induced by the immune activation itself, the conversion of a cold into an inflamed tumor will require a prior combination of therapies to induce immune infiltration and then different immune checkpoint modulators to remove the breaks.
Statements
Author contributions
PB, TS, VA, JV-G, and SD contributed to the writing. SD and CC contributed to the conception. SV-W, SA, CC, and SD participated in the lecture and corrections.
Funding
This work was supported by grants from Programme de Recherche Translationnelle en Cancérologie INCa-DGOS (INCa PRT-K2017-072), the Rhône comity of the Ligue Contre le Cancer, the SIRC project (LYRICAN, INCa-DGOS-Inserm_12563), and the LABEX DEVweCAN (ANR-10-LABX-0061) of the University of Lyon, within the program Investissements d'Avenir organized by the French National Agency (ANR).
Conflict of interest
SD is also an employee for Cellectis and reports personal fees from AstraZeneca, Elsalys, Erytech Pharma, and Netris Pharma. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
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Summary
Keywords
cold tumors, T cells, tumor antigen, presentation, priming, trafficking, immunotherapy
Citation
Bonaventura P, Shekarian T, Alcazer V, Valladeau-Guilemond J, Valsesia-Wittmann S, Amigorena S, Caux C and Depil S (2019) Cold Tumors: A Therapeutic Challenge for Immunotherapy. Front. Immunol. 10:168. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2019.00168
Received
04 December 2018
Accepted
21 January 2019
Published
08 February 2019
Volume
10 - 2019
Edited by
Salem Chouaib, Institut Gustave Roussy, France
Reviewed by
Viktor Umansky, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Germany; Daniel Olive, Aix Marseille Université, France
Updates

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Copyright
© 2019 Bonaventura, Shekarian, Alcazer, Valladeau-Guilemond, Valsesia-Wittmann, Amigorena, Caux and Depil.
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Stéphane Depil stephane.depil@lyon.unicancer.fr
This article was submitted to Cancer Immunity and Immunotherapy, a section of the journal Frontiers in Immunology
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