Personalized peptide vaccination: a novel immunotherapeutic approach for advanced cancer.
Since both tumor cells and immune cell repertoires are diverse and heterogeneous, immune responses against tumor-associated antigens might be substantially different among individual patients. Personalized selection of right peptides for individuals could thus be an appropriate strategy for cancer vaccines. We have developed a novel immunotherapeutic approach, personalized peptide vaccination (PPV), in which HLA-matched peptides are selected and administered, based on the pre-existing host immunity before vaccination. Recent clinical trials of PPV have demonstrated a feasibility of this new therapeutic approach in various types of advanced cancers. For example, a randomized phase II trial for patients with castration resistant prostate cancer showed a possible clinical benefit in the PPV group. In the patients undergoing PPV, lymphocyte counts, increased IgG responses to the vaccine peptides, and inflammatory factors in pre-vaccination peripheral blood might be potential biomarkers for prognosis. Further randomized phase III trials would be recommended to prove clinical benefits of PPV.
Department of Immunology and Immunotherapy, Kurume University School of Medicine, Kurume, Japan. tsasada@med.kurume-u.ac.jp
Tetsuro
T
Sasada
Masanori
M
Noguchi
Akira
A
Yamada
Kyogo
K
Itoh
D000818:Animals; D017326:Clinical Trials, Phase III as Topic; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D022223:Vaccines, Subunit / Q000627:therapeutic use*
D022223:Vaccines, Subunit