Tumor vaccine against recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma

To investigate the effects of autologous tumor vaccine on recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Sixty patients with HCC who had undergone curative resection, were randomly divided into HCC vaccine group and control group. Three vaccinations at 2-wk intervals were performed after curative hepatic resection. Delayed-type- hypersensitivity (DTH) test was performed before and after vaccination. Primary endpoints were the time of recurrence.

Four patients in control group and 6 patients in HCC vaccine group were withdrawn from the study. The vaccine containing human autologous HCC fragments showed no essential adverse effect in a phase II clinical trial and 17 of 24 patients developed a DTH response against the fragments. Three of 17 DTH-positive response patients and 5 of 7 DTH-negative response patients had recurrences after curative resection. After the operation, 1-, 2- and 3-year recurrence rates of HCC vaccine group were 16.7%, 29.2% and 33.3%, respectively. But, 1-, 2- and 3-year recurrence rates of the control group were 30.8%, 53.8% and 61.5%, respectively. The time before the first recurrence in the vaccinated patients was significantly longer than that in the control patients (P < 0.05).

Autologous tumor vaccine is of promise in decreasing recurrence of human HCC.