title: Dexamethasone did not suppress immune boosting by personalized peptide vaccination for advanced prostate cancer patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To evaluate the immunological responses of personalized peptide vaccination combined with low-dose glucocorticoids for advanced hormone refractory prostate cancer (HRPC) patients (pts).
  
  
  METHODS
  Eleven pts with advanced HRPC were treated with the vaccination and low-dose glucocorticoids; 6 pts with 10 mg/day of prednisolone (PDL) followed by 1 mg/day of dexamethasone at the time of progression, 1 pt with PDL, and 4 pts with dexamethasone. Peptide-specific cellular and humoral responses were employed to monitor pre- and post- (6th) vaccination samples.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The vaccination combined with glucocorticoids was well tolerated with no severe adverse effects. Increments of IgG responses were observed in 1 of 4 or 8 of 10 pts tested who received PDL or dexamethasone, respectively, increment of cytotoxic T lymphocyte activity was observed in 2 of 4 or 5 of 7 pts tested, respectively. Vaccination with PDL or dexamethasone resulted in a decline of PSA (at least 50%) in 1 of 7 or 6 of 10 pts with significantly longer median TTP in the dexamethasone group, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Vaccination combined with dexamethasone could be recommended for further clinical trials from both immunological and clinical points of view.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Kurume University School of Medicine, Kurume, Fukuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: Masayasu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Naito
authors.forename: Kyogo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Itoh
authors.forename: Nobukazu
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Komatsu
authors.forename: Yuichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yamashita
authors.forename: Takafumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shirakusa
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.forename: Fukuko
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Moriya
authors.forename: Hitoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ayatuka
authors.forename: Elnisr Rashed
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Mohamed
authors.forename: Kei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Matsuoka
authors.forename: Masanori
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Noguchi