Peptide vaccination in the presence of adjuvants in patients after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation with CD4+ T cell reconstitution elicits consistent CD8+ T cell responses.

Patients receiving an allogeneic stem cell graft from cytomegalovirus (CMV) seronegative donors are particularly prone to CMV reactivation with a high risk of disease and mortality. Therefore we developed and manufactured a novel vaccine and initiated a clinical phase I trial with a CMV phosphoprotein 65 (CMVpp65)-derived peptide. Ten patients after allogeneic stem cell transplantation received four vaccinations at a biweekly interval.

Cytomegalovirus vaccination of leukemia and lymphoma patients after allogeneic stem cell transplantation--validation of a peptide vaccine.

Peptide vaccination constitutes a novel immunotherapeutical approach for the treatment of patients with solid tumors, lymphoma and leukemia. Moreover it might be of use in hematooncological patients for the prevention and therapy of infections like cytomegalovirus (CMV) reactivation due to immunosuppression. To meet good manufacturing practice (GMP) criteria, we introduce here a bio-assay to validate peptide vaccines for peptide content and bio-activity.