title: Dendritic Cell-Based Adjuvant Vaccination Targeting Wilms' Tumor 1 in Patients with Advanced Colorectal Cancer.
abstract: Despite significant recent advances in the development of immune checkpoint inhibitors, the treatment of advanced colorectal cancer involving metastasis to distant organs remains challenging. We conducted a phase I study to investigate the safety and immunogenicity of Wilms' tumor (WT1) class I/II peptides-pulsed dendritic cell DC vaccination for patients with advanced colorectal cancer. Standard treatment comprising surgical resection and chemotherapy was followed by one course of seven biweekly administrations of 1-2 × 10⁷ DCs with 1-2 KE of OK-432 (streptococcal preparation) in three patients. Clinical efficacy was confirmed based on WT1 expression using immunohistochemistry on paraffin-embedded tissues and immune monitoring using tetramer analysis and enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot (ELISPOT) assays. WT1 expression with human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-class I molecules was detected in surgical resected tissues. Adverse reactions to DC vaccinations were tolerable under an adjuvant setting. WT1-specific cytotoxic T cells were detected by both modified WT1-peptide/HLA-A*24:02 tetramer analysis and/or interferon-γ-producing cells through the use of ELISPOT assays after the first DC vaccination. Immunity acquired from DC vaccination persisted for two years with prolonged disease-free and overall survival. The present study indicated that DC vaccination targeting WT1 demonstrated the safety and immunogenicity as an adjuvant therapy in patients with resectable advanced colorectal cancer.
authors.affiliation: Center for Advanced Cell Therapy, Shinshu University Hospital, Matsumoto 8621, Japan. shimodai@shinshu-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Shigetaka
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shimodaira
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Shinshu University Hospital, Matsumoto 8621, Japan. kenjisa@shinshu-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sano
authors.affiliation: Center for Advanced Cell Therapy, Shinshu University Hospital, Matsumoto 8621, Japan. kohira@shinshu-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Koichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hirabayashi
authors.affiliation: Center for Advanced Cell Therapy, Shinshu University Hospital, Matsumoto 8621, Japan. koya@shinshu-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Terutsugu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Koya
authors.affiliation: Center for Advanced Cell Therapy, Shinshu University Hospital, Matsumoto 8621, Japan. sasa0922@shinshu-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Yumiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Higuchi
authors.affiliation: Center for Advanced Cell Therapy, Shinshu University Hospital, Matsumoto 8621, Japan. purimeron@shinshu-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Yumiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mizuno
authors.affiliation: Center for Advanced Cell Therapy, Shinshu University Hospital, Matsumoto 8621, Japan. naoko4152@shinshu-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Naoko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yamaoka
authors.affiliation: Center for Advanced Cell Therapy, Shinshu University Hospital, Matsumoto 8621, Japan. m1k1yz@shinshu-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Miki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yuzawa
authors.affiliation: Shinshu Cancer Center, Shinshu University Hospital, Matsumoto 8621, Japan. takob@shinshu-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.affiliation: Department of Breast and Endocrine Surgery, Shinshu University Hospital, Matsumoto 8621, Japan. kenito@shinshu-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Kenichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.affiliation: Shinshu Cancer Center, Shinshu University Hospital, Matsumoto 8621, Japan. tomonobu@shinshu-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Tomonobu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Koizumi
keywords: Wilms’ tumor 1; colorectal cancer; dendritic cell vaccines; enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot assay; immunohistochemistry; tetramer analysis