title: Complete molecular remissions induced by patient-specific vaccination plus granulocyte-monocyte colony-stimulating factor against lymphoma.
abstract: Lymphomas express a tumor-specific antigen which can be targeted by cancer vaccination. We evaluated the ability of a new idiotype protein vaccine formulation to eradicate residual t(14;18)+ lymphoma cells in 20 patients in a homogeneous, chemotherapy-induced first clinical complete remission. All 11 patients with detectable translocations in their primary tumors had cells from the malignant clone detectable in their blood by PCR both at diagnosis and after chemotherapy, despite being in complete remission. However, 8 of 11 patients converted to lacking cells in their blood from the malignant clone detectable by PCR after vaccination and sustained their molecular remissions. Tumor-specific cytotoxic CD8+ and CD4+ T cells were uniformly found (19 of 20 patients), whereas antibodies were detected, but apparently were not required for molecular remission. Vaccination was thus associated with clearance of residual tumor cells from blood and long-term disease-free survival. The demonstration of molecular remissions, analysis of cytotoxic T lymphocytes against autologous tumor targets, and addition of granulocyte-monocyte colony-stimulating factor to the vaccine formulation provide principles relevant to the design of future clinical trials of other cancer vaccines administered in a minimal residual disease setting.
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Transplantation, Medicine Branch, Division of Clinical Sciences, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bendandi
authors.forename: C D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Gocke
authors.forename: C B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Kobrin
authors.forename: F A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Benko
authors.forename: L A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Sternas
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pennington
authors.forename: T M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Watson
authors.forename: C W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Reynolds
authors.forename: B L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Gause
authors.forename: P L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Duffey
authors.forename: E S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Jaffe
authors.forename: S P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Creekmore
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Longo
authors.forename: L W
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Kwak
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000912:Antibodies, Neoplasm / Q000097:blood; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm / Q000276:immunology*; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D019496:Cancer Vaccines / Q000276:immunology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002883:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 14; D002887:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 18; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm / Q000097:blood; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D016178:Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D007130:Immunoglobulin Idiotypes / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008224:Lymphoma, Follicular / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012074:Remission Induction; D014178:Translocation, Genetic
chemical_list: D000912:Antibodies, Neoplasm; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D019496:Cancer Vaccines; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm; D007130:Immunoglobulin Idiotypes; D016178:Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor