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Review
. 2025 Jan;39(1):101941.
doi: 10.1016/j.beem.2024.101941. Epub 2024 Sep 11.

Role of B cells in intratumoral MBTA immunotherapy of murine pheochromocytoma model

Ondrej Uher  1 , Katerina Hadrava Vanova  2 , Katerina Petrlakova  3 , Rachael Labitt  4 , Radka Lencova  5 , Andrea Frejlachova  6 , Juan Ye  7 , Herui Wang  8 , Michal Masarik  9 , Jan Zenka  10 , Zhengping Zhuang  11 , Karel Pacak  12
Affiliations
Review

Role of B cells in intratumoral MBTA immunotherapy of murine pheochromocytoma model

Ondrej Uher et al. Best Pract Res Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2025 Jan.

Abstract

Immunotherapy represents a revolutionary advancement in cancer treatment, which has traditionally focused on T cells; however, the role of B cells in cancer immunotherapy has gained interest because of their role in antigen presentation, antibody production, and cytokine release. In this study, we examined the role of B cells in previously developed intratumoral MBTA therapy (mannan-BAM, TLR ligands, and anti-CD40 antibody) in murine models of MTT pheochromocytoma. The results indicated that B cells significantly enhance the success of MBTA therapy, with wild-type mice exhibiting a lower tumor incidence and smaller tumors compared with B cell-deficient mice. Increased IL-6 and TNF-alpha levels indicated severe inflammation and a potential cytokine storm in B cell-deficient mice. Neutralization of TNF-alpha ameliorated these complications but resulted in increased tumor recurrence. The results highlight the important role of B cells in enhancing the immune response and maintaining immune homeostasis during MBTA therapy. Our findings offer new insights into improving therapeutic outcomes.

Keywords: B cells; cytokine storm; intratumoral immunotherapy; melanoma; pheochromocytoma.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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References

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