Antisense anti IGF-I cellular therapy of malignant tumours: immune response in cancer patients

The treatment of cancer by antisense anti-IGF-I cellular therapy inducing immune response has evoked interest among many promising strategies. Here, we reported some results obtained from patients with cancer, mainly glioblastoma treated by this strategy, which was also extended to patients with colon carcinoma, ovary cystadenocarcinoma and prostate adenocarcinoma. It was shown that, in the phase I of clinical trial, patients vaccinated with their own tumour cells treated by antisense IGF-I presented a slight increase of temperature. Their peripheral blood lymphocytes showed a shift in the percentage of CD8 effector cells as judged by expression of cell surface markers CD8+ CD28+. Particularly, in two treated patients with glioblastoma, the survival time was 19 and 24 months respectively in comparison to the range of 12 to 15 months observed in the case of classical treatment such as surgery, radiation or chemotherapy. These results, although preliminary, gave indication that the reported strategy could deserve consideration owing to its safety. Furthermore, the increase in the percentage of peripheral blood monomorphonucleated cells (PBMNCs) with effector phenotype, i.e., CD8+ CD28+ in vaccinated patients might explain their prolonged survival time.