Vaccination with dendritic cell-tumor fusion cells in multiple myeloma patients: a promising strategy?

Immunotherapy. 2013 Oct;5(10):1039-42. doi: 10.2217/imt.13.96.

Abstract

Evaluation of: Rosenblatt J, Avivi I, Vasir B et al. Vaccination with dendritic cell/tumor fusions following autologous stem cell transplant induces immunologic and clinical responses in multiple myeloma patients. Clin. Cancer Res. 19(13), 3640-3648 (2013). Recently, dendritic cell (DC)-tumor fusion vaccines have been explored as a promising therapeutic approach for the treatment of cancer. Fusion vaccines offer several advantages that distinguish them from other DC-based vaccines. In this Phase II clinical trial, Rosenblatt et al. demonstrate that repeated immunization with a DC-tumor fusion vaccine after autologous stem cell transplantation induces myeloma-specific immunity and improves clinical response. They showed that generation of an autologous fusion vaccine with dendritic and myeloma cells was feasible and that vaccination was well tolerated without grade 3-4 toxicities. The results of this study suggest that the time after autologous stem cell transplantation represents a unique setting for cancer vaccination and that combining autologous stem cell transplantation with post-transplant vaccination increases the immunogenicity.

Publication types

  • Comment

MeSH terms

  • Cancer Vaccines / immunology*
  • Dendritic Cells / immunology*
  • Female
  • Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Multiple Myeloma / immunology*
  • Multiple Myeloma / therapy*

Substances

  • Cancer Vaccines