Evaluation of explant responses to STING ligands: Personalized immunosurgical therapy for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

Surgeons have unique in situ access to tumors enabling them to apply immunotherapies to resection margins as a means to prevent local recurrence. Here, we developed a surgical approach to deliver stimulator of interferon genes (STING) ligands to the site of a purposeful partial tumor resection using a gel-based biomaterial. In a range of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) murine tumor models, we demonstrate that although control-treated tumors recur locally, tumors treated with STING-loaded biomaterials are cured. The mechanism of tumor control required activation of STING and induction of type I IFN in host cells, not cancer cells, and resulted in CD8 T-cell–mediated cure of residual cancer cells. In addition, we used a novel tumor explant assay to screen individual murine and human HNSCC tumor responses to therapies ex vivo . We then utilized this information to personalize the biomaterial and immunotherapy applied to previously unresponsive tumors in mice. These data demonstrate that explant assays identify the diversity of tumor-specific responses to STING ligands and establish the utility of the explant assay to personalize immunotherapies according to the local response. Significance: Delivery of immunotherapy directly to resection sites via a gel-based biomaterial prevents locoregional recurrence of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Cancer Res; 78(21); 6308–19. ©2018 AACR .