Thank you Leo - and here is some info on TregsFurther to the AWARE-1 study conducted by SOLTI the following was found:
"The data show combining pelareorep with anti-PD-L1 therapy led to increases in CelTIL score and an improvement in the ratio between cytotoxic CD8+ T cells to regulatory T cells (Tregs). These striking immunological changes are associated with greater therapeutic efficacy and improved clinical outcomes. Collectively, the AWARE-1 results highlight pelareorep's potential to address the unmet need for techniques to enhance checkpoint inhibitor efficacy and strongly support the continued clinical evaluation of pelareorep-checkpoint inhibitor combinations."
And: - The addition of atezolizumab enhances pelareorep's ability to generate and expand new anti-viral and anti-tumor T cell clones in the tumor and periphery
- Compared to cohort 1, cohort 2 patients had a higher ratio of CD8+ T cells to regulatory T cells, suggesting pelareorep and checkpoint inhibition enhances inflammation within the tumor microenvironment
https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/oncolytics-biotech-r-and-solti-achieve-primary-endpoint-in-aware-1-study-871181269.html
Correspondingly, in an article appearing in FierceBiotech today, a direct correlation happens to be made when looking at the immune system to treat moles which can mutate to melanoma (skin cancer) to findings in the AWARE-1 SOLTI breast cancer study which revealed that suppression of Tregs with atezolizumab facilitates the activation of T-cells with pelareorep thus leading to inflammation within the TME. In the AWARE-1 study it was the rise in the number of cytotoxic T-killer cells CD8+ as compared to the number of Tregs that were of significance, since that demonstrated the synergistic effect of adding pelareorep to immune checkpoint blockade.
The above referenced (attached) FierceBiotech article concluded that suppression of Tregs 'could enhance the body’s antitumor response and boost other therapies, including PD-1 inhibitors' - which the AWARE-1 study fully confirmed. https://www.fiercebiotech.com/research/harnessing-immune-response-against-common-moles-to-combat-melanoma