CSF-1R inhibition and lenalidomide synergize to promote myeloma control after autologous stem cell transplantation

ABSTRACT: Autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) with maintenance lenalidomide remains the mainstay of consolidation therapy for eligible patients with multiple myeloma, but preventing disease relapse remains a critical unmet need. Here, we investigated whether immunosuppressive myeloid populations in bone marrow correlated with ASCT outcomes. We identified a subset of CD64+CD169+CD163+ macrophages that expressed CSF-1R, PD-L1, and CD155 and were expanded in patients who relapsed after ASCT. Using a preclinical ASCT model with suboptimal endogenous antimyeloma activity, we demonstrated that although neither CSF-1R inhibition nor lenalidomide monotherapy significantly improved outcomes, their combination synergistically attenuated disease progression and prolonged survival. Single-cell RNA sequencing revealed that lenalidomide expanded natural killer (NK)-like CD8+ T cells but paradoxically also increased the frequency of Csf1r+ macrophages. Cell-cell communication analyses identified Csf1r+ macrophages as suppressors of these NK- and effector-like phenotypically exhausted (Tphex) CD8 T-cell populations through CD94/NKG2A and PD-L1/PD-1, respectively. CSF-1R blockade depleted these immunosuppressive macrophages, which correlated with decreased expression of inhibitory receptors and enhanced expression of activation markers in Tphex. Given the US Food and Drug Administration approval of axatilimab for chronic graft-versus-host disease, combining CSF-1R blockade with lenalidomide maintenance represents a readily testable strategy to improve progression-free survival after ASCT.