title: Monitoring circulating tumor cells in cancer vaccine trials.
abstract: The presence of circulating tumor cells (CTC) from various cancers has provided a wealth of information and possibilities. As the role of CTC detection in the treatment assessment of metastatic breast cancer becomes standard, there is interest in applying this tool in cancer vaccine development and clinical trial monitoring. Since we lack a proven immunologic assay that correlates with clinical response, CTC detection, quantification and phenotypic characterization may be a useful surrogate for clinical outcome. The Cancer Vaccine Development Program is involved in the development of HER2/neu peptide based vaccine development for the prevention of recurrence in HER2/neu expressing cancers like breast cancer. The CellSearch System (Veridex, LLC Warren, NJ) has been used by our lab in conjunction with in vivo and/or in vitro immunologic measurements to define a monitoring tool that could predict clinical response. Once validated, this assay could significantly shorten clinical trials and lead to more efficient assessment of potentially promising cancer vaccines.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, General Surgery Service, Brooke Army Medical Center, Ft. Sam Houston, Texas 78234, USA.
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Gates
authors.forename: L C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Benavides
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stojadinovic
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Mittendorf
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Holmes
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Carmichael
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: McCall
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Milford
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Merrill
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ponniah
authors.forename: G E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Peoples
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers; D001773:Blood Cells; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology*; D019496:Cancer Vaccines / Q000276:immunology*; D002452:Cell Count; D006801:Humans; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D019496:Cancer Vaccines