DNA vaccine encoding prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP) elicits long-term T-cell responses in patients with recurrent prostate cancer.

Prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP) is a tumor antigen in prostate cancer and the target of several anti-tumor vaccines in earlier clinical trials. Ultimately, the goal of anti-tumor vaccines is to elicit a sustainable immune response, able to eradicate a tumor, or at least restrain its growth. We have investigated plasmid DNA vaccines and have previously conducted a phase 1 trial in which patients with recurrent prostate cancer were vaccinated with a DNA vaccine encoding PAP. In this study, we investigated the immunologic efficacy of subsequent booster immunizations, and conducted more detailed longitudinal immune analysis, to answer several questions aimed at guiding optimal schedules of vaccine administration for future clinical trials. We report that antigen-specific cytolytic T-cell responses were amplified after immunization in 7 of 12 human leukocyte antigen-A2-expressing individuals, and that multiple immunizations seemed necessary to elicit PAP-specific interferon-gamma-secreting immune responses detectable by enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot assay. Moreover, among individuals who experienced a >/=200% increase in prostate-specific antigen doubling time, long-term PAP-specific interferon-gamma-secreting T-cell responses were detectable in 6 of 8, but in only 1 of 14 individuals without an observed change in prostate-specific antigen doubling time (P=0.001). Finally, we identified that immune responses elicited could be further amplified by subsequent booster immunizations. These results suggest that future trials using this DNA vaccine, and potentially other anti-tumor DNA vaccines, could investigate ongoing schedules of administration with periodic booster immunizations. Moreover, these results suggest that DNA vaccines targeting PAP could potentially be combined in heterologous immunization strategies with other vaccines to further augment PAP-specific T-cell immunity.

Safety and immunological efficacy of a DNA vaccine encoding prostatic acid phosphatase in patients with stage D0 prostate cancer.

PURPOSE: Prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP) is a prostate tumor antigen. We have previously demonstrated that a DNA vaccine encoding PAP can elicit antigen-specific CD8+ T cells in rodents. We report here the results of a phase I/IIa trial conducted with a DNA vaccine encoding human PAP in patients with stage D0 prostate cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Twenty-two patients were treated in a dose-escalation trial with 100 microg, 500 microg, or 1,500 microg plasmid DNA, coadministered intradermally with 200 microg granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor as a vaccine adjuvant, six times at 14-day intervals. All patients were observed for 1 year after treatment. RESULTS: No significant adverse events were observed. Three (14%) of 22 patients developed PAP-specific IFN gamma-secreting CD8+ T-cells immediately after the treatment course, as determined by enzyme-linked immunospot. Nine (41%) of 22 patients developed PAP-specific CD4+ and/or CD8+ T-cell proliferation. Antibody responses to PAP were not detected. Overall, the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) doubling time was observed to increase from a median 6.5 months pretreatment to 8.5 months on-treatment (P = .033), and 9.3 months in the 1-year post-treatment period (P = .054). CONCLUSION: The demonstration that a DNA vaccine encoding PAP is safe, elicits an antigen-specific T-cell response, and may be associated with an increased PSA doubling time suggests that a multi-institutional phase II trial designed to evaluate clinical efficacy is warranted.