Immunotherapy of malignant melanoma with tumor lysate-pulsed autologous monocyte-derived dendritic cells.
OBJECTIVE
Dendritic cell (DC) vaccination for melanoma was introduced because melanoma carries distinct tumor-associated antigens. The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy and safety of DC vaccination for melanoma in Korea.


METHODS
Five patients with stage IV and one with stage II were enrolled. Autologous monocyte-derived DCs (MoDCs) were cultured and pulsed with tumor-lysate, keyhole limpet hemocyanin, and cytokine cocktail for mature antigen-loaded DC. DC vaccination was repeated four times at 2-week intervals and 2-4×10⁷ DC were injected each time.


RESULTS
Reduced tumor volume was observed by PET-CT in three patients after DC vaccination. Delayed type hypersensitivity responses against tumor antigen were induced in five patients. Tumor antigen-specific IFN-γ-producing peripheral blood mononuclear cells were detected with enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot in two patients. However, the overall clinical outcome showed disease progression in all patients.


CONCLUSIONS
In this study, DC vaccination using tumor antigen-loaded, mature MoDCs led to tumor regression in individual melanoma patients. Further standardization of DC vaccination protocol is required to determine which parameters lead to better anti-tumor responses and clinical outcomes.
Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Biology Research Institute, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Dae Suk
DS
Kim
Dong Hyun
DH
Kim
Boncheol
B
Goo
Young Hun
YH
Cho
Jin Mo
JM
Park
Tae Hyung
TH
Lee
Hyun Ok
HO
Kim
Han-Soo
HS
Kim
Hyunah
H
Lee
Jong Doo
JD
Lee
Dashlkhumbe
D
Byamba
Jeong Hwan
JH
Je
Min-Geol
MG
Lee
D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D008545:Melanoma / Q000628:therapy*; D009000:Monocytes / Q000166:cytology*; D016896:Treatment Outcome