Thereby, DuoBody-CD40×4-1BB provides a unique combination of priming and enhancing existing anti-tumor immunity. DuoBody-CD40×4-1BB is currently being evaluated in patients with advanced solid tumors in a first-in-human trial (NCT04083599).

These results suggest that NK cells induce an ADCC response in combination with anti-PD-L1 mAbs, which helps promote ADCC antitumor activity against PD-L1-positive tumors. This study provides support for NK cell immunotherapy against high PD-L1-expressing tumors in combination with ADCC through anti-PD-L1 mAbs.

These findings demonstrate intriguing mechanisms for understanding the expression of PD-1 on NK cells and the function of PD-1 NK cells in lung cancer. This study confirms and extends previous studies demonstrating that PD-1 can negatively regulate the antitumor function of NK cells.

These data advocate human CLEC9A-NY-ESO-1 Ab as an attractive strategy for specific targeting of CD141 DCs to enhance tumor immunogenicity in NY-ESO-1-expressing malignancies.

We observed that pre-treatment of CD8 T cells with blocking antibodies in CLL patients at early clinical stages had no effects on restoring their functional properties. Further in vitro and in vivo complementary studies are required to more explore the utility of checkpoint inhibitors for CLL patients.