Combined MEK and STAT3 inhibition reprograms stromal inflammation to overcome immunotherapy resistance in pancreatic cancer

ABSTRACT Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is characterized by immune exclusion, pro-inflammatory polarization of cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAF), and resistance to immune checkpoint inhibition (ICI). We have previously demonstrated that reciprocally activated RAS/MEK/ERK and JAK/STAT3 pathways mediate therapeutic resistance, while combined MEK and STAT3 inhibition (MEKi+STAT3i) overcomes such resistance in preclinical models. We now show that combined MEKi+STAT3i not only alters stromal architecture but also uncovers stromal plasticity by revealing a substantial attenuation of Il6/Cxcl1 -expressing secretory and Lrrc15 -expressing myofibroblastic CAF phenotypes with a concomitant enrichment of Ly6a/Cd34 -expressing CAF phenotypes exhibiting mesenchymal progenitor-like properties via single-cell RNA sequencing in Ptf1a cre/+ ;LSL-Kras G12D/+; Tgfbr2 flox/flox (PKT) mice. This remodeling of CAF heterogeneity is associated with reprogramming of immunosuppressive myeloid populations and enhanced trafficking of CD8 + T-cells which exhibit a distinct effector transcriptional program. These MEKi+STAT3i-mediated repercussions are in part CAF-dependent, since CRISPR/Cas9 genetic silencing of CAF-restricted Mek1 / Stat3 mitigates inflammatory CAF polarization and myeloid infiltration in vivo . Addition of MEKi+STAT3i to PD-1 blockade overcomes ICI resistance by significantly augmenting anti-tumor responses and dramatically improving survival in PKT mice compared with anti-PD-1 monotherapy. The addition of MEKi+STAT3i to PD-1 blockade not only augments the recruitment of activated and memory T-cell populations, but also improves their degranulating capacity and functional cytotoxicity compared to PD-1 blockade alone. Importantly, treatment of a patient with chemotherapy-refractory metastatic PDAC with MEKi (Trametinib), STAT3i (Ruxolitinib), and PD-1 inhibitor (Nivolumab) was well-tolerated and yielded clinical benefit. These data uncover a novel paradigm in which combined MEKi+STAT3i reprograms stromal inflammation and immune tolerance to overcome immunotherapy resistance in PDAC.