In some settings, cancer cells responding to treatment undergo an immunogenic form of cell death that is associated with the abundant emission of danger signals in the form of damage-associated molecular patterns. Accumulating preclinical and clinical evidence indicates that danger signals play a crucial role in the (re-)activation of antitumor immune responses in vivo, thus having a major impact on patient prognosis. We have previously demonstrated that the presence of calreticulin on the surface of malignant blasts is a positive prognostic biomarker for patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Calreticulin exposure not only correlated with enhanced T-cell-dependent antitumor immunity in this setting but also affected the number of circulating natural killer (NK) cells upon restoration of normal hematopoiesis. Here, we report that calreticulin exposure on malignant blasts is associated with enhanced NK cell cytotoxic and secretory functions, both in AML patients and in vivo in mice. The ability of calreticulin to stimulate NK-cells relies on CD11c+CD14high cells that, upon exposure to CRT, express higher levels of IL-15Rα, maturation markers (CD86 and HLA-DR) and CCR7. CRT exposure on malignant blasts also correlates with the upregulation of genes coding for type I interferon. This suggests that CD11c+CD14high cells have increased capacity to migrate to secondary lymphoid organs, where can efficiently deliver stimulatory signals (IL-15Rα/IL-15) to NK cells. These findings delineate a multipronged, clinically relevant mechanism whereby surface-exposed calreticulin favors NK-cell activation in AML patients.
- MeSH
- aktivace lymfocytů MeSH
- akutní myeloidní leukemie * terapie MeSH
- buňky NK MeSH
- cytotoxicita imunologická MeSH
- interleukin-15 MeSH
- kalretikulin * genetika metabolismus MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- myši MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Check Tag
- lidé MeSH
- myši MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
- Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S. MeSH
OBJECTIVE: Immunotherapy of cancer has the potential to be effective mostly in patients with a low tumour burden. Rising PSA (prostate-specific antigen) levels in patients with prostate cancer represents such a situation. We performed the present clinical study with dendritic cell (DC)-based immunotherapy in this patient population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The single-arm phase I/II trial registered as EudraCT 2009-017259-91 involved 27 patients with rising PSA levels. The study medication consisted of autologous DCs pulsed with the killed LNCaP cell line (DCVAC/PCa). Twelve patients with a favourable PSA response continued with the second cycle of immunotherapy. The primary and secondary objectives of the study were to assess the safety and determine the PSA doubling time (PSADT), respectively. RESULTS: No significant side effects were recorded. The median PSADT in all treated patients increased from 5.67 months prior to immunotherapy to 18.85 months after 12 doses (p < 0.0018). Twelve patients who continued immunotherapy with the second cycle had a median PSADT of 58 months that remained stable after the second cycle. In the peripheral blood, specific PSA-reacting T lymphocytes were increased significantly already after the fourth dose, and a stable frequency was detected throughout the remainder of DCVAC/PCa treatment. Long-term immunotherapy of prostate cancer patients experiencing early signs of PSA recurrence using DCVAC/PCa was safe, induced an immune response and led to the significant prolongation of PSADT. Long-term follow-up may show whether the changes in PSADT might improve the clinical outcome in patients with biochemical recurrence of the prostate cancer.
- MeSH
- dendritické buňky imunologie transplantace MeSH
- imunoterapie metody MeSH
- lidé středního věku MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- nádory prostaty imunologie terapie MeSH
- počet lymfocytů MeSH
- prostatektomie MeSH
- prostatický specifický antigen genetika imunologie metabolismus MeSH
- radioterapie MeSH
- regulace genové exprese u nádorů MeSH
- senioři MeSH
- T-lymfocyty imunologie MeSH
- tumor burden MeSH
- výsledek terapie MeSH
- Check Tag
- lidé středního věku MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- mužské pohlaví MeSH
- senioři MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- klinické zkoušky, fáze I MeSH
- klinické zkoušky, fáze II MeSH
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
PURPOSE: We conducted an open-label, single-arm Phase I/II clinical trial in metastatic CRPC (mCRPC) patients eligible for docetaxel combined with treatment with autologous mature dendritic cells (DCs) pulsed with killed LNCaP prostate cancer cells (DCVAC/PCa). The primary and secondary endpoints were safety and immune responses, respectively. Overall survival (OS), followed as a part of the safety evaluation, was compared to the predicted OS according to the Halabi and MSKCC nomograms. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Twenty-five patients with progressive mCRPC were enrolled. Treatment comprised of initial 7 days administration of metronomic cyclophosphamide 50 mg p.o. DCVAC/PCa treatment consisted of a median twelve doses of 1 × 107 dendritic cells per dose injected s.c. (Aldara creme was applied at the site of injection) during a one-year period. The initial 2 doses of DCVAC/PCa were administered at a 2-week interval, followed by the administration of docetaxel (75 mg/m2) and prednisone (5 mg twice daily) given every 3 weeks until toxicity or intolerance was observed. The DCVAC/PCa was then injected every 6 weeks up to the maximum number of doses manufactured from one leukapheresis. RESULTS: No serious DCVAC/PCa-related adverse events have been reported. The median OS was 19 months, whereas the predicted median OS was 11.8 months with the Halabi nomogram and 13 months with the MSKCC nomogram. Kaplan-Meier analyses showed that patients had a lower risk of death compared with both MSKCC (Hazard Ratio 0.26, 95% CI: 0.13-0.51) and Halabi (Hazard Ratio 0.33, 95% CI: 0.17-0.63) predictions. We observed a significant decrease in Tregs in the peripheral blood. The long-term administration of DCVAC/PCa led to the induction and maintenance of PSA specific T cells. We did not identify any immunological parameter that significantly correlated with better OS. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with mCRPC, the combined chemoimmunotherapy with DCVAC/PCa and docetaxel was safe and resulted in longer than expected survival. Concomitant chemotherapy did not preclude the induction of specific anti-tumor cytotoxic T cells.
- MeSH
- adenokarcinom imunologie mortalita sekundární terapie MeSH
- adjuvantní chemoterapie MeSH
- alkylační protinádorové látky aplikace a dávkování MeSH
- časové faktory MeSH
- cyklofosfamid aplikace a dávkování MeSH
- dendritické buňky imunologie transplantace MeSH
- imunoterapie škodlivé účinky metody mortalita MeSH
- Kaplanův-Meierův odhad MeSH
- lidé středního věku MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- metronomické podávání léků MeSH
- nádory prostaty rezistentní na kastraci farmakoterapie imunologie mortalita patologie MeSH
- nomogramy MeSH
- prednison aplikace a dávkování MeSH
- proporcionální rizikové modely MeSH
- protokoly protinádorové kombinované chemoterapie aplikace a dávkování škodlivé účinky MeSH
- rizikové faktory MeSH
- senioři nad 80 let MeSH
- senioři MeSH
- T-lymfocyty - podskupiny imunologie MeSH
- taxoidy aplikace a dávkování MeSH
- tumor infiltrující lymfocyty imunologie MeSH
- výsledek terapie MeSH
- Check Tag
- lidé středního věku MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- mužské pohlaví MeSH
- senioři nad 80 let MeSH
- senioři MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- klinické zkoušky, fáze I MeSH
- klinické zkoušky, fáze II MeSH
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
