Peripheral blood from 205 treatment-naïve patients with glioma (GBM = 145; non-GBM = 60) was obtained on the day of surgery to measure (i) circulating T-cells reacting to viral antigens and TAAs, in the presence or absence of cytokine conditioning with IL-2/IL-15/IL-21 or IL-2/IL-7, and (ii) serum cytokine levels (IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, TNF-α, IFN-γ and IL-17A).
FAT10 expression is highly up-regulated by pro-inflammatory cytokines IFN-γ and TNF-α in all cell types and tissues and it was also found to be up-regulated in many cancer types such as glioma, colorectal, liver or gastric cancer.
The human oral squamous carcinoma line Ca9-22 and the glioma line A172 failed to express CXCL9 and CXCL10 mRNAs in response to IFNgamma, whereas other carcinoma lines including HSC-2 did express these mRNAs.
These findings demonstrate the effectiveness of local IFNgamma and TNFalpha gene transfer as a treatment strategy for glioma and illustrate possible physiological pathways responsible for the therapeutic benefit observed.