Autologous tumor lysate-pulsed dendritic cell immunotherapy with cytokine-induced killer cells improves survival in gastric and colorectal cancer patients.
Gastric and colorectal cancers (GC and CRC) have poor prognosis and are resistant to chemo- and/or radiotherapy. In the present study, the prophylactic effects of dendritic cell (DC) vaccination are evaluated on disease progression and clinical benefits in a group of 54 GC and CRC patients treated with DC immunotherapy combined with cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cells after surgery with or without chemo-radiotherapy. DCs were prepared from the mononuclear cells isolated from patients using IL-2/GM-CSF and loaded with tumor antigens; CIK cells were prepared by incubating peripheral blood lymphocytes with IL-2, IFN-γ, and CD3 antibodies. The DC/CIK therapy started 3 days after low-dose chemotherapy and was repeated 3-5 times in 2 weeks as one cycle with a total of 188.3 ± 79.8 × 10(6) DCs and 58.8 ± 22.3 × 10(8) CIK cells. Cytokine levels in patients' sera before and after treatments were measured and the follow-up was conducted for 98 months to determine disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). The results demonstrate that all cytokines tested were elevated with significantly higher levels of IFN-γ and IL-12 in both GC and CRC cohorts of DC/CIK treated patients. By Cox regression analysis, DC/CIK therapy reduced the risk of post-operative disease progression (p<0.01) with an increased OS (<0.01). These results demonstrate that in addition to chemo- and/or radiotherapy, DC/CIK immunotherapy is a potential effective approach in the control of tumor growth for post-operative GC and CRC patients.
Biotherapy Center, Qingdao Center Hospital, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Qingdao University Medical College, Qingdao, China.
Daiqing
D
Gao
Biotherapy Center, Qingdao Center Hospital, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Qingdao University Medical College, Qingdao, China.
Changyou
C
Li
Biotherapy Center, Qingdao Center Hospital, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Qingdao University Medical College, Qingdao, China.
Xihe
X
Xie
Biotherapy Center, Qingdao Center Hospital, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Qingdao University Medical College, Qingdao, China.
Peng
P
Zhao
Biotherapy Center, Qingdao Center Hospital, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Qingdao University Medical College, Qingdao, China.
Xiaofang
X
Wei
Biotherapy Center, Qingdao Center Hospital, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Qingdao University Medical College, Qingdao, China.
Weihong
W
Sun
Department of Radiation Oncology, NCI-Designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California at Davis Sacramento, Sacramento, California, United States of America.
Hsin-Chen
HC
Liu
Department of Radiation Oncology, NCI-Designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California at Davis Sacramento, Sacramento, California, United States of America.
Aris T
AT
Alexandrou
Department of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada.
Jennifer
J
Jones
Department of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada.
Ronghua
R
Zhao
Department of Radiation Oncology, NCI-Designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California at Davis Sacramento, Sacramento, California, United States of America.
Jian Jian
JJ
Li
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D000368:Aged; D019496:Cancer Vaccines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D055612:Cytokine-Induced Killer Cells / Q000276:immunology*; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000276:immunology*; D018450:Disease Progression; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D015996:Survival Rate; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D019496:Cancer Vaccines