title: Autologous peripheral blood mononuclear cell recognition of autologous proliferating tumor cells in the context of a patient-specific vaccine trial.
abstract: Metastatic melanoma patients who were treated with patient-specific vaccines consisting of dendritic cells loaded with autologous tumor cells had a 5-year survival of over 50%. Enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT) has been used to detect antigen reactive T cells as a means of determining immune response. We wished to determine whether IFN-gamma secretion in an ELISPOT assay was prognostic or predictive for survival following treatment. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) collected at weeks 0 and 4 were evaluated by ELISPOT assay for response to autologous tumor cells. Overall, there was slight increase in the number of tumor reactive lymphocytes from week 0 to week 4. Using >5 spots/100 K PBMC as the cutoff, a log-rank analysis revealed only a slight statistical significance in overall survival for patients who lacked tumor reactive PBMCs at week 4. The sensitivity of ELISPOT in the context of patient-specific cellular vaccines is unclear.
authors.affiliation: Cell Biology Laboratory, Hoag Cancer Center, Newport Beach, CA 92663, USA. andrew.cornforth@hoaghospital.org
authors.forename: A N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Cornforth
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: R O
authors.initials: RO
authors.lastname: Dillman
mesh_terms: D019496:Cancer Vaccines / Q000276:immunology*; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000276:immunology; D058501:Enzyme-Linked Immunospot Assay; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000378:metabolism; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000276:immunology*; D008545:Melanoma / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology*; D057285:Precision Medicine; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D019496:Cancer Vaccines; D007371:Interferon-gamma