Patient-specific dendritic cell vaccines with autologous tumor antigens in 72 patients with metastatic melanoma.

Aim: Metastatic melanoma patients were treated with patient-specific vaccines consisting of autologous dendritic cells loaded with antigens from irradiated cells from short-term autologous tumor cell lines.

Patients & Methods: A total of 72 patients were enrolled in a single-arm Phase I/II (NCT00948480) trial or a randomized Phase II (NCT00436930).

Results: Toxicity was minimal.

Randomized phase II trial of autologous dendritic cell vaccines versus autologous tumor cell vaccines in metastatic melanoma: 5-year follow up and additional analyses.

Background: Despite improved survival following checkpoint inhibitors, there is still a potential role for anti-cancer therapeutic vaccines. Because of biological heterogeneity and neoantigens resulting from each patient's mutanome, autologous tumor may be the best source of tumor-associated antigens (TAA) for vaccines. Ex vivo loading of autologous dendritic cells with TAA may be associated with superior clinical outcome compared to injecting irradiated autologous tumor cells.

Dendritic Versus Tumor Cell Presentation of Autologous Tumor Antigens for Active Specific Immunotherapy in Metastatic Melanoma: Impact on Long-Term Survival by Extent of Disease at the Time of Treatment.

In patients with metastatic melanoma, sequential single-arm and randomized phase II trials with a therapeutic vaccine consisting of autologous dendritic cells (DCs) loaded with antigens from self-renewing, proliferating, irradiated autologous tumor cells (DC-TC) showed superior survival compared with similar patients immunized with irradiated tumor cells (TC). We wished to determine whether this difference was evident in cohorts who at the time of treatment had (1) no evidence of disease (NED) or (2) had detectable disease. Eligibility criteria and treatment schedules were the same for all three trials.

High-dose IL2 in metastatic melanoma: better survival in patients immunized with antigens from autologous tumor cell lines.

Abstract Various published data show that in patients with metastatic melanoma, high-dose interleukin-2 (IL2) is associated with 5-year survival rates of 15% from treatment initiation. We previously reported a median survival of 15.6 months, and a 20% 5-year survival rate for 150 patients who were treated with inpatient IL2 (Cancer Biother Radiopharm 2012;27:337).

Tumor stem cell antigens as consolidative active specific immunotherapy: a randomized phase II trial of dendritic cells versus tumor cells in patients with metastatic melanoma.

Only 10% of metastatic melanoma patients survive 5 years, even though many can achieve substantial tumor reduction by surgical resection and/or radiation therapy and/or systemic therapy. An effective, nontoxic, consolidation immunotherapy could benefit such patients. We initiated a randomized trial to compare 2 promising patient-specific immunotherapy cell products.