Immunizations with unmodified tumor cells and simultaneous COX-2 inhibition eradicate malignant rat brain tumors and induce a long-lasting CD8+ T cell memory

•Immunotherapy and COX-2 inhibition cure 60% of glioma-bearing rats.•89% of the previously cured animals survive a secondary tumor challenge.•Memory CD8+ T cells play a crucial role in the secondary tumor response.

Malignant brain tumors induce pronounced immunosuppression, which diminishes immune responses generated by immunotherapy. Here we report that peripheral immunotherapy, using irradiated unmodified whole tumor cells, and systemic cyclooxygenase-2 inhibition induce cure in glioma-bearing rats (60% cure rate), whereas neither monotherapy was sufficient to cure any animal. Moreover, the combined therapy protected against secondary tumor challenges (89% cure rate) and the secondary immune response was correlated with increased plasma interferon-gamma levels and CD8+ T cells systemically and intratumorally.In conclusion, we demonstrate that cyclooxygenase-2 inhibition is sufficient to render unmodified tumor cells immunogenic in immunotherapy of experimental brain tumors.