Immunological evaluation of personalized peptide vaccination for patients with pancreatic cancer

The prognosis of pancreatic cancer is extremely poor, and development of new treatment modalities is needed. One such treatment could be specific immunotherapy. To evaluate safety and immunological responses, we conducted a phase I study of personalized peptide vaccination for pancreatic cancer patients (n=11). Namely, pre-vaccination peripheral blood mononuclear cells were screened for their reactivity in vitro to each of 14 or 16 peptides in HLA-A24(+) or -A2(+) patients, and only the reactive peptides (maximum: 4) were vaccinated in vivo. This regimen was generally well tolerated, although inflammatory reactions at the injection site were observed in 7 patients. Delayed-type hypersensitivity to peptides used for vaccination was observed in 7 patients. Increased cellular and humoral immune responses to at least one of peptides used for vaccination were observed in the post-vaccination PBMCs and sera from 4 of 8 patients and 4 of 10 patients tested, respectively. The 6- and 12-month survival rates for patients who received >3 vaccinations (n=10) were 80% and 20%, respectively. Due to tolerability and capability of inducing specific immunity, further development of personalized peptide-based immunotherapy for pancreatic cancer patients is warranted.