title: Active dendritic cell immunotherapy for glioblastoma: Current status and challenges.
abstract: Dendritic cell (DC) immunotherapy is developing as a promising treatment modality for patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). The aim of this article is to review the data from clinical trials and prospective studies evaluating the safety and efficacy of DC vaccines for newly diagnosed (ND)- and recurrent (Rec)-GBM and for other high-grade gliomas (HGGs). By searching all major databases we identified and reviewed twenty-two (n=22) such studies, twenty (n=20) of which were phase I and II trials, one was a pilot study towards a phase I/II trial and one was a prospective study. GBM patients were exclusively recruited in 12/22 studies, while 10/22 studies enrolled patients with any diagnosis of a HGG. In 7/22 studies GBM was newly diagnosed. In the vast majority of studies the vaccine was injected subcutaneously or intradermally and consisted of mature DCs pulsed with tumour lysate or peptides. Median overall survival ranged between 16.0 and 38.4 months for ND-GBM and between 9.6 and 35.9 months for Rec-GBM. Vaccine-related side effects were in general mild (grade I and II), with serious adverse events (grade III, IV and V) reported only rarely. DC immunotherapy therefore appears to have the potential to increase the overall survival in patients with HGG, with an acceptable side effect profile. The findings will require confirmation by the ongoing and future phase III trials.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, King's College Hospital , London , UK.
authors.forename: Stavros
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Polyzoidis
authors.forename: Juel
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tuazon
authors.forename: Lucy
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Brazil
authors.forename: Ronald
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Beaney
authors.forename: Safa Taha
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Al-Sarraj
authors.forename: Lawrence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Doey
authors.forename: Jamie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Logan
authors.forename: Victoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Hurwitz
authors.forename: Jozef
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jarosz
authors.forename: Ranjeev
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bhangoo
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gullan
authors.forename: Aleksandar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mijovic
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Richardson
authors.forename: Farzin
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Farzaneh
authors.forename: Keyoumars
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ashkan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D019496:Cancer Vaccines / Q000276:immunology*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D005909:Glioblastoma / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy
chemical_list: D019496:Cancer Vaccines
keywords: dendritic cells; glioblastoma multiforme; high-grade glioma; immunotherapy; review