Patient-specific dendritic cell vaccines with autologous tumor antigens in 72 patients with metastatic melanoma

AIM: Metastatic melanoma patients were treated with patient-specific vaccines consisting of autologous dendritic cells loaded with antigens from irradiated cells from short-term autologous tumor cell lines. PATIENTS & METHODS: A total of 72 patients were enrolled in a single-arm Phase I/II (NCT00948480) trial or a randomized Phase II (NCT00436930). RESULTS: Toxicity was minimal. Median overall survival (OS) was 49.4 months; 5-year OS 46%. A 5-year OS was 72% for 18 recurrent stage 3 without measurable disease when treated and 53% for 30 stage 4 without measurable disease when treated. A total of 24 patients with measurable stage 4 when treated (median of four prior therapies) had an 18.5 months median OS and 46% 2-year OS. CONCLUSION: This dendritic cell vaccine was associated with encouraging survival in all three clinical subsets. Clinicaltrial.gov NCT00436930 and NCT00948480.