IL-7: a potential next-generation adjuvant for immune cell therapies

Cell-based immune therapies ranging from CAR-T cells to tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and endogenous T-cell products, have produced unprecedented clinical responses in hematologic malignancies and are currently under active investigation for solid tumors. Nevertheless, several key challenges continue to limit the durability and breadth of clinical benefit. IL-7 is a pleiotropic cytokine that increases both the number and function of lymphocytes. Although not yet clinically approved, IL-7 has been used in over 620 adult and pediatric patients for a variety of reasons including, for example, to hasten bone marrow recovery after allogenic stem cell transplantation, to reverse lymphopenia due to HIV and idiopathic etiologies, to treat patients with various malignancies, and to boost vaccine responses. IL-7 is generally well-tolerated and effective in producing a durable increase in the number and function of CD4 and CD8 T cells. Recently, IL-7 has been used clinically in multiple myeloma patients receiving CAR-T cell therapy, in patients with urothelial cancer who are receiving checkpoint inhibitors, in patients undergoing endogenous lymphocyte cell therapy, and in critically-ill lymphopenic patients with COVID-19. The authors, all of whom have used IL-7 clinically, discuss how IL-7 effectively addresses all the major problems currently limiting adoptive cell therapies. Peering into the future, we believe that IL-7 will be a major advance as an adjuvant treatment in many cell therapies and hope that this commentary will expedite IL-7’s testing in multiple clinical settings.