Case report: Long-term survival of a pancreatic cancer patient immunized with an SVN-2B peptide vaccine

A 62-year-old woman who underwent surgery to treat pancreatic cancer provided written, informed consent to undergo adjuvant therapy with gemcitabine, tegafur, and uracil. However, this was stopped after only 14 days due to Grade 4 neutropenia. She was then started on vaccine therapy with Survivin 2B peptide (SVN-2B) including IFA and INF-α. Although metastatic lung tumors were identified and resected at 82 months after surgery, the patient has remained free of new or relapsed disease for 12 years thereafter. Tetramer and ELISPOT assays revealed the continuous circulation of SVN-2B-restricted cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (CTLs) in her peripheral blood, and CTL clones had specific activity for SVN-2B at 12 years after surgery. The adverse effects of the peptide vaccination were tolerable and comprised low-grade headache, nausea, and fatigue. A prognosis beyond 10 years in the face of pancreatic cancer with distant metastasis is extremely rare. This experience might indicate the value of cancer vaccination therapy.