Personalized neoantigen vaccine NEO-PV-01 with chemotherapy and anti-PD-1 as first-line treatment for non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer

Neoantigens arising from mutations in tumor DNA provide targets for immune-based therapy. Here, we report the clinical and immune data from a Phase Ib clinical trial of a personalized neoantigen-vaccine NEO-PV-01 in combination with pemetrexed, carboplatin, and pembrolizumab as first-line therapy for advanced non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This analysis of 38 patients treated with the regimen demonstrated no treatment-related serious adverse events. Multiple parameters including baseline tumor immune infiltration and on-treatment circulating tumor DNA levels were highly correlated with clinical response. De novo neoantigen-specific CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cell responses were observed post-vaccination. Epitope spread to non-vaccinating neoantigens, including responses to KRAS G12C and G12V mutations, were detected post-vaccination. Neoantigen-specific CD4⁺ T cells generated post-vaccination revealed effector and cytotoxic phenotypes with increased CD4⁺ T cell infiltration in the post-vaccine tumor biopsy. Collectively, these data support the safety and immunogenicity of this regimen in advanced non-squamous NSCLC.