Surface Oncology announced that the company will present new preclinical data on the role of IL-27 in therapy resistance at the 10th Annual Cytokines Meeting of the International Cytokine and Interferon Society (ICIS) being held September 20 – 23 at Big Island, Hawaii. The poster, entitled IL-27 Inhibits Immune Cell Reinvigoration Mediated by PD-(L)1 Blockade and Induces a Type 1 Interferon Gene Expression Signature Associated with Resistance to Therapy in Cancer Patients (#297), will first be presented in a virtual preview session at 2:00 - 3:30 pm HST/8:00 - 9:30 pm EDT. IL-27 induces the expression of several immunoregulatory receptors (e.g., PD-L1, TIM-3, LAG-3, and TIGIT) and reduces inflammatory cytokine production An IFN-stimulated gene signature is expressed in a variety of human tumors and associated with resistance to cancer therapies including chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and immune checkpoint inhibition.

These IFN-stimulated genes are also upregulated by IL-27. IL-27 and Type 1 interferons (IFNa2, IFNß1) counteract the immune cell reinvigoration seen after PD-(L)1 pathway blockade in human PBMCs, while IFN? does not.

Loss of IL-27 function, through either genetic deficiency or pharmacologic inhibition by SRF388, a first-in-class anti-IL-27 monoclonal antibody, leads to tumor growth inhibition in mouse models and early clinical data have shown monotherapy activity of SRF388 in patients with cancer (NCT04374877).