Dexamethasone limits benefit of Immune checkpoint blockade

 New study published in clinical cancer research:

Concurrent Dexamethasone Limits the Clinical Benefit of Immune Checkpoint Blockade in Glioblastoma

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33239433/

from the abstract:

Results: Despite the inherent responsiveness of GL261 to immune checkpoint blockade, concurrent dexamethasone administration with anti-PD-1 therapy reduced survival in a dose-dependent manner. Concurrent dexamethasone also abrogated survival following anti-PD-1 therapy with or without radiotherapy in immune-resistant CT-2A models. Dexamethasone decreased T-lymphocyte numbers by increasing apoptosis, in addition to decreasing lymphocyte functional capacity. Myeloid and natural killer cell populations were also generally reduced by dexamethasone. Thus, dexamethasone appears to negatively affect both adaptive and innate immune responses. As a clinical correlate, a retrospective analysis of 181 consecutive patients with IDH wild-type GBM treated with PD-(L)1 blockade revealed poorer survival among those on baseline dexamethasone. Upon multivariable adjustment with relevant prognostic factors, baseline dexamethasone administration was the strongest predictor of poor survival 

Conclusions: Our preclinical and clinical data indicate that concurrent dexamethasone therapy may be detrimental to immunotherapeutic approaches for patients with GBM.

The GL261 referred to is a mouse model of glioma.