The inhibitory receptor PVRIG is dominantly expressed in the bone marrow of patients with multiple myeloma and its blockade enhances T-cell engager's immune activation

Abstract

Therapeutic advances in treating patients with multiple myeloma (MM), including novel immunotherapies, have improved the disease control, but it remains incurable. Although traditional immune check point inhibitors have shown limited clinical benefit, targeting alternative immune-inhibitory pathways may offer a novel way to address relapsed disease. Blockade of the immune regulator TIGIT was shown to enhance antitumor immunity in preclinical MM models. Beyond TIGIT, the DNAM-1 axis includes the novel inhibitory receptor PVR related immunoglobulin (PVRIG). In this study we evaluated the expression of DNAM-1 axis receptors and the function of PVRIG in bone marrow of individuals with MM, specifically highlighting PVRIG blockade as a potential therapeutic opportunity in combination with bispecific T-cell engager (BiTE).