Background/aim: Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is an intractable tumor that has a very poor prognosis despite intensive treatment with temozolomide plus radiotherapy.
Patients and methods: Sixteen newly diagnosed patients with high-grade gliomas were enrolled in a phase II study of the α-type-1 DC vaccine. Briefly, DCs obtained from the culture of enriched monocytes in the presence of a cytokine cocktail, were pulsed with a cocktail of 5 synthetic peptides and cryopreserved until injection into patients.
Results: The amount of IL-12 produced by activated DCs was higher than that previously reported. Among 15 evaluable patients, 10 showed positive CTL responses to any peptides in an ELISPOT assay. After 6 years of observation, five patients were still alive, and two of these patients were relapse-free. Moreover, a significant survival-prolonging effect was verified in DC-treated glioma patients.
Conclusion: Peptide-cocktail-pulsed α-type-1 DC vaccines have a potential therapeutic effect on survival when used in combination with the standard regimen, which is partly based on IL-12-IFN-γ-mediated T-cell activation.
Keywords: Activated dendritic cell; HLA-A24; high-grade glioma; immunotherapy; phase II trial.
Copyright© 2020, International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. George J. Delinasios), All rights reserved.