title: Peptide vaccines for hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: Immunotherapy is a potentially attractive treatment option for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We have reported that glypican-3 (GPC3) is an ideal target for anticancer immunotherapy against HCC because its expression is specifically detected in > 80% of HCCs, even during the early stages. Further, increased GPC3 expression is correlated with a poor prognosis. Based on results obtained from a preclinical study using mice, we conducted a phase I clinical trial using a GPC3-derived peptide vaccine. Phase I results showed that the GPC3-derived peptide vaccine was well tolerated. Furthermore, this was the first study to show that the frequency of peptide-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes was correlated with overall survival in patients with HCC receiving a peptide vaccine. Next, we conducted a phase II clinical trial using the GPC3-derived peptide vaccine in patients with HCC after surgery or radiofrequency ablation (adjuvant setting). We are currently evaluating a third trial involving liver biopsies removed from patients with advanced HCC before and after GPC3-derived peptide vaccination. We expect that the results of these trials will result in future drug development.
authors: Division of Cancer Immunotherapy, Research Center for Innovative Oncology, National Cancer Center Hospital East; Kashiwa, Japan.
authors: Daisuke
authors: D
authors: Nobuoka
authors: Toshiaki
authors: T
authors: Yoshikawa
authors: Yu
authors: Y
authors: Sawada
authors: Toshiyoshi
authors: T
authors: Fujiwara
authors: Tetsuya
authors: T
authors: Nakatsura
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019496:Cancer Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000276:immunology*; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000276:immunology* / Q000628:therapy*; D017321:Clinical Trials, Phase I as Topic; D017322:Clinical Trials, Phase II as Topic; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D053673:Glypicans / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D051379:Mice; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013602:T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / Q000276:immunology; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D022223:Vaccines, Subunit / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D019496:Cancer Vaccines; D053673:Glypicans; D022223:Vaccines, Subunit
keywords: clinical trial; cytotoxic T lymphocyte; glypican-3; hepatocellular carcinoma; peptide vaccine