Therapeutic effect of intratumoral injections of dendritic cells for locally recurrent gastric cancer: a case report.

An 80-year-old man with a history of gastric cancer and pulmonary emphysema underwent a distal gastrectomy for gastric cancer in 1997. In 2010, an endoscopic examination revealed a depressed-type lesion at the oral side of the anastomosis, which was diagnosed as signet-ring adenocarcinoma. Surgical management was considered, but was rejected because of obstructive and restrictive respiratory events. Chemotherapy was terminated because of adverse events. Endoscopy was used to administer intratumoral injections of dendritic cells (DCs) targeting synthesized peptides of Wilms tumor 1 (WT1) and mucin 1, cell-surface associated (MUC1). An immunohistochemical analysis of the tumor samples indicated positivity for WT1 and MUC1. One month after seven cycles of DC had been administered (between November 2010 and April 2011), no suspicious lesions were evident, and his biopsy results were normal. The patient has been in remission for 30 months. Intratumoral injections of DCs showed therapeutic effects in this patient, who could not undergo endoscopic submucosal dissection or surgery.

Dendritic cell-based immunotherapy targeting synthesized peptides for advanced biliary tract cancer.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this retrospective study was to clarify the safety and efficacy of dendritic cell (DC)-based immunotherapy targeting synthesized peptides, Wilms tumor 1 (WT1) and Mucin 1, cell surface associated (MUC1) for biliary tract cancers (BTCs). METHODS: Sixty-five patients who had nonresectable, recurrent, or metastatic BTCs and received the DC-based immunotherapy were selected for the study. DCs were pulsed with WT1 and/or MUC1. The adverse events (AEs) and clinical responses were examined. RESULTS: No serious treatment-related AEs were observed. Median survival time (MST) from diagnosis and from the first vaccination was 18.5 and 7.2 months, respectively. By multivariate Cox proportional hazard analysis, the significant independent factors were found to be (1) combined chemotherapy, (2) albumin level ≥4.0 g/dL before vaccination, (3) C-reactive protein level <0.5 mg/dL before vaccination, and (4) fever after vaccination. The MST from the first vaccination with or without chemotherapy was 8.2 and 5.3 months, respectively (P = 0.016), and MST for the patients with prognostic nutritional index ≥40 and <40 was 8.1 and 5.0 months, respectively (P = 0.023). CONCLUSIONS: Although a small uncontrolled nonrandomized study, DC-based immunotherapy for BTCs was safe and produced a clinical response for the patients who underwent chemotherapy and maintained a good nutrition status.