The PEPvIII-KLH (CDX-110) vaccine in glioblastoma multiforme patients.
Journal Article (Journal Article;Review)
Conventional therapies for glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) fail to target tumor cells exclusively, resulting in non-specific toxicity. Immune targeting of tumor-specific mutations may allow for more precise eradication of neoplastic cells. EGFR variant III (EGFRvIII) is a tumor-specific mutation that is widely expressed in GBM and other neoplasms and its expression enhances tumorigenicity. This in-frame deletion mutation splits a codon, resulting in a novel glycine at the fusion junction producing a tumor-specific epitope target for cellular or humoral immunotherapy. We have previously shown that vaccination with a peptide that spans the EGFRvIII fusion junction (PEPvIII-KLH/CDX-110) is an efficacious immunotherapy in syngeneic murine models. In this review, we summarize our results in GBM patients targeting this mutation in multiple, multi-institutional Phase II immunotherapy trials. These trials demonstrated that a selected population of GBM patients who received vaccines targeting EGFRvIII had an unexpectedly long survival time. Further therapeutic strategies and potential pitfalls of using this approach are discussed.
Full Text
Duke Authors
Cited Authors
- Heimberger, AB; Sampson, JH
Published Date
- August 2009
Published In
Volume / Issue
- 9 / 8
Start / End Page
- 1087 - 1098
PubMed ID
- 19591631
Pubmed Central ID
- PMC2793529
Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)
- 1744-7682
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
- 10.1517/14712590903124346
Language
- eng
Conference Location
- England