BRACHYURY: --- The transcription factor brachyury is a major driver of epithelial to mesenchymal transition in human carcinoma cells. It is overexpressed in several human tumor types versus normal adult tissues, except for testes and thyroid. Overexpression is associated with drug resistance and poor prognosis. Previous studies identified a brachyury HLA-A2 cytotoxic T-lymphocyte epitope. We describe an enhancer epitope of brachyury. Compared to the native epitope, the agonist epitope: (a) has enhanced binding to MHC class I, (b) increased the IFN-gamma production from brachyury-specific T cells, (c) generated brachyury-specific T cells with greater levels of perforin and increased proliferation, (d) generated T cells more proficient at lysing human carcinoma cells endogenously expressing the native epitope, and (e) achieved greater brachyury-specific T-cell responses in vivo in HLA-A2 transgenic mice. These studies also report the generation of a heat-killed recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae (yeast) vector expressing the full-length brachyury gene encoding the agonist epitope. Compared to yeast-brachyury (native) devoid of the agonist epitope, the yeast-brachyury (agonist) enhanced the activation of brachyury-specific T cells, which efficiently lysed human carcinoma cells. MCU1 AGONISTS: --- The MUC1 tumor-associated antigen is overexpressed in the majority of human carcinomas and several hematologic malignancies. While previous studies have described MUC1 as a tumor-associated tissue differentiation antigen, studies have now determined that the C-terminus of MUC1 (MUC1-C) is an oncoprotein, and its expression is an indication of poor prognosis in numerous tumor types. We have now reported the identification of nine potential CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocyte epitopes of MUC1, seven in the C-terminus and two in the VNTR region, and have identified enhancer agonist peptides for each of these epitopes. These epitopes span HLA-A2, HLA-A3, and HLA-A24 major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I alleles, which encompass the majority of the population. The agonist peptides, compared to the native peptides, more efficiently (a) generate T-cell lines from the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of cancer patients, (b) enhance the production of IFN-gamma by peptide-activated human T cells, and (c) lyse human tumor cell targets in an MHC-restricted manner. The agonist epitopes described here can be incorporated into various vaccine platforms. PD-L1 CHECKPOINT MAB: --- Several anti-PD1/PD-L1 monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) are currently providing evidence of clinical benefit in subsets of cancer patients. The mode of action of these MAbs is to inhibit PD1 on immune cells interacting with PD-L1 on tumor cells. These MAbs are either designed or engineered to eliminate antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC). ADCC, however, has been implicated as an important mechanism in several highly effective MAb-mediated cancer therapies. A fully human anti-PD-L1 MAb would potentially be able to block PD-L1/PD1 interactions and also mediate the ADCC lysis of tumor cells. MSB0010718C (designated avelumab) is a fully human IgG1 anti-PD-L1 MAb. The studies demonstrate (a) the ability of avelumab to lyse a range of human tumor cells in the presence of PBMC or NK effectors; (b) IFN-gamma can enhance tumor cell PD-L1 expression and in some cases enhance ADCC tumor cell lysis; (c) purified NK cells are potent effectors for avelumab; (d) similar levels of avelumab-mediated ADCC lysis of tumor cells are seen using purified NK as effectors from either healthy donors or cancer patients; (e) very low levels of avelumab-mediated lysis are seen using whole PBMC as targets; this finding complements results seen in analyses of PBMC subsets of patients receiving avelumab; and (f) the addition of IL-12 to NK cells greatly enhances avelumab-mediated ADCC. These studies thus provide an additional mode of action for an anti-PD-L1 MAb and provide the rationale for further studies to enhance avelumab-mediated ADCC activity. --- These studies were conducted to define whether avelumab could enhance the detection of antigen-specific immune response in in vitro assays. These studies show for the first time that the addition of avelumab to an antigen-specific in vitro stimulation assay (a) increased the frequency of activated antigen-specific CD8+ T lymphocytes, and did so to a greater extent than that seen with commercially available PD-L1 blocking antibodies, (b) reduced CD4+ cell proliferation, and (c) induced a switch in the production of Th2 to Th1 cytokines. These findings provide the rationale for the use of avelumab anti-PD-L1 in in vitro assays to monitor patient immune responses to immunotherapies. COLORECTAL CANCER: --- The first-line standard of care for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) is FOLFIRI (irinotecan, levo-leucovorin, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)) plus bevacizumab. With the renewed interest in cancer immunotherapy with agents such as vaccines, checkpoint inhibitors and immune modulators, the possibility exists for the use of one or more of these immunotherapeutics in the first-line setting and thus in combination with the FOLFIRI and bevacizumab regimen. Studies were undertaken to study the effects of FOLFIRI and bevacizumab therapy on peripheral T-cell subsets, and to determine if there are any associations between these subsets and response to therapy. Peripheral blood mononuclear cell subsets of patients with mCRC (n = 23) were analyzed prior to and during therapy. While there were differences among patients, the majority of patients showed either a minimal change or an increase in CD4+ T-cell to regulatory T-cell (Treg) ratios during therapy, as well as either minimal change or a decrease in Treg suppressive activity during therapy. There was also an association (p = 0.036) between a decrease in Treg frequency during FOLFIRI therapy and overall survival, and an association (p = 0.037) between the frequency of Tregs prior to therapy and progression-free survival. Responders to the chemotherapy by RECIST criteria also had a greater decrease in Tregs during therapy vs pre-therapy (p = 0.0064) as compared to non-responders. While the number of mCRC patients undergoing chemotherapy in this study is relatively small, it provides the rationale for the use of immunotherapeutics in this first-line metastatic setting. 123 IMMUNE CELL SUBSETS: --- Recent advances in human immunology have led to the identification of novel immune cell subsets and the biological function of many of these subsets has now been identified. The results of ongoing immunotherapy clinical studies requires a more thorough interrogation of the immune system. We report the use of flow cytometry-based analyses to identify 123 immune cell subsets of peripheral blood mononuclear cells. The use of these panels defines multiple differences in younger (less than 40 years) vs. older (greater than or equal to 40 years) individuals and between aged-matched apparently healthy individuals and metastatic cancer patients, aspects not seen in the analysis of the following standard immune cell types: CD8, CD4, natural killer, natural killer-T, regulatory T, myeloid derived suppressor cells, conventional dendritic cells (DCs), plasmacytoid DCs and B cells. The use of these panels identifying 123 immune cell subsets may aid in the identification of patients who may benefit from immunotherapy, either prior to therapy or early in the immunotherapeutic regimen, for the treatment of cancer or other chronic or infectious diseases.