TY - JOUR T1 - Anti-TNF, a magic bullet in cancer immunotherapy? JF - Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer JO - J Immunother Cancer DO - 10.1186/s40425-019-0802-y VL - 7 IS - 1 SP - 303 AU - Anne Montfort AU - Carine Dufau AU - Céline Colacios AU - Nathalie Andrieu-Abadie AU - Thierry Levade AU - Thomas Filleron AU - Jean-Pierre Delord AU - Maha Ayyoub AU - Nicolas Meyer AU - Bruno Ségui Y1 - 2019/12/01 UR - http://jitc.bmj.com/content/7/1/303.abstract N2 - Immune checkpoint blockers (ICB) have revolutionized cancer therapy. However, complete response is observed in a minority of patients and most patients develop immune-related adverse events (irAEs). These include colitis, which can be treated with anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) antibodies such as Infliximab. In a recent issue of the Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer, Badran et al. reported that co-administering Infliximab together with ICB to five cancer patients prevents colitis recurrence, with four of them exhibiting overall disease stability. The basis for this treatment strategy stemmed from our pre-clinical demonstration that TNF contributes to resistance to anti-PD-1 therapy. In agreement with this concept, we have shown that TNF blockers improve the anti-tumor therapeutic activity of ICB in mice and based on these findings we are currently evaluating the combination in melanoma patients enrolled in the TICIMEL clinical trial. Herein, (i) we discuss the scientific rationale for combining anti-TNF and ICB in cancer patients, (ii) comment on the paper published by Badran et al. and (iii) provide the TICIMEL clinical trial design.Abbreviations:AICDActivation-induced cell deathCTLA-4Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4DLTDose Limiting ToxicityIBDInflammatory bowel diseaseICBImmune checkpoint blockersirAEsimmune-related adverse eventsIUCT-OInstitut Universitaire du Cancer de Toulouse-OncopolePD-1Programmed cell death 1PD-L1Programmed cell death ligand 1SUSARSuspected Unexpected Serious Adverse ReactionsTILsTumor-infiltrating lymphocytesTIM-3T-cell immunoglobulin and mucin-domain containing-3TNFTumor Necrosis Factor alphaTNFR1Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor 1 ER -