title: Immunological evaluation of personalized peptide vaccination for patients with pancreatic cancer.
abstract: The prognosis of pancreatic cancer is extremely poor, and development of new treatment modalities is needed. One such treatment could be specific immunotherapy. To evaluate safety and immunological responses, we conducted a phase I study of personalized peptide vaccination for pancreatic cancer patients (n=11). Namely, pre-vaccination peripheral blood mononuclear cells were screened for their reactivity in vitro to each of 14 or 16 peptides in HLA-A24(+) or -A2(+) patients, and only the reactive peptides (maximum: 4) were vaccinated in vivo. This regimen was generally well tolerated, although inflammatory reactions at the injection site were observed in 7 patients. Delayed-type hypersensitivity to peptides used for vaccination was observed in 7 patients. Increased cellular and humoral immune responses to at least one of peptides used for vaccination were observed in the post-vaccination PBMCs and sera from 4 of 8 patients and 4 of 10 patients tested, respectively. The 6- and 12-month survival rates for patients who received >3 vaccinations (n=10) were 80% and 20%, respectively. Due to tolerability and capability of inducing specific immunity, further development of personalized peptide-based immunotherapy for pancreatic cancer patients is warranted.
authors.affiliation: Department of Digestive Surgery and Surgical Oncology (Surgery II), Yamaguchi University School of Medicine, 1-1-1 Minamiogushi, Ube 755-8505, Japan.
authors.forename: Koutaro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mine
authors.forename: Kazuko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Katagiri
authors.forename: Nobuaki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Toru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kawaoka
authors.forename: Tomio
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ueno
authors.forename: Satoko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Matsueda
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.forename: Kyogo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Itoh
authors.forename: Hideaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yamana
authors.forename: Masaaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Oka
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D019496:Cancer Vaccines / Q000009:adverse effects; D005260:Female; D015234:HLA-A Antigens / Q000276:immunology; D015789:HLA-A2 Antigen / Q000276:immunology; D059871:HLA-A24 Antigen; D006801:Humans; D006968:Hypersensitivity, Delayed; D007249:Inflammation; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D012008:Recurrence; D012882:Skin Tests; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D022223:Vaccines, Subunit / Q000009:adverse effects
chemical_list: D019496:Cancer Vaccines; D015234:HLA-A Antigens; D015789:HLA-A2 Antigen; D059871:HLA-A24 Antigen; D022223:Vaccines, Subunit