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Clinical Trials |
Division of Oncology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195 [M. L. D., K. S., D. G. M., K. R., K. L. K.], and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington 98104 [T. A. G.]
| ABSTRACT |
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10
mm2 correlated significantly to a measurable
peptide-specific peripheral blood T-cell response defined as
stimulation index >2.0 (P = 0.0006). However,
antigen-specific DTH responses with magnitudes between 5 and 9
mm2 were not significantly associated with the development
of systemic immunity. DTH responses between 5 and 9 mm2
carried an odds ratio of 1.3 (P = 0.61) in
predicting a measurable systemic tumor antigen response. The findings
presented here demonstrate that tumor antigen-specific DTH responses
10 mm2 correlate with measurable in vitro
antigen-specific lymphocytic proliferation and are, in this model
system, a reflection of systemic immunization. | INTRODUCTION |
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Our group has been studying the HER-2/neu protein as a tumor antigen. Early reports of a phase I study of HER-2/neu peptide-based vaccines indicate that measurable systemic immunity to HER-2/neu peptides, and to the protein itself, can be generated after peptide immunization (3) . The systemic immune response was assessed by in vitro evaluation of lymphocytic proliferation. The present study questions whether tumor antigen-specific DTH responses, elicited after vaccination, are an adequate reflection of the generation of systemic cell-mediated immunity. In addition, this study examines what the magnitude of the tumor antigen DTH response must be to potentially predict the acquisition of systemic antigen-specific immunity.
| PATIENTS AND METHODS |
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HER-2/neu Peptide-based Vaccines and Skin Tests.
Peptides were constructed by Multiple Peptide Systems (San Diego, CA).
All peptides constructed were potential helper epitopes of the
HER-2/neu protein predicted by computer modeling and empiric testing to
be potentially immunogenic (4)
. Three vaccine formulations
were tested. The first vaccine contained peptides p42-56, p98-114, and
p328-345; nine patients received this vaccine. The second vaccine
included peptides p776-790, p927-941, and p1166-1180; nine patients
received this vaccine. The final vaccine formulation consisted of
peptides p369-384, p688-703, and p971-984; 14 patients received this
vaccine. The peptides were solubilized in a 10 mM sodium
acetate buffer (pH 4.0). The total vaccine dose administered was 500
µg per peptide for a total dose of 1.5 mg in 0.8 ml using two
injections of 0.4 ml. Inoculations were given in the same location each
month within the same draining lymph node site and were placed within 5
cm of each other. Each patient received i.d. immunizations containing a
mixture of HER-2/neu peptides and 125 µg of recombinant human
granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor (Immunex Corporation,
Seattle, WA). Each peptide was also packaged individually in vials for
subsequent skin testing at the completion of the study (Corixa
Corporation, Seattle, WA).
Determination of DTH Responses.
Patients were skin tested against their immunizing peptides 1 month
after their last vaccination. One hundred µg of each individual
peptide were injected i.d. on the patients back, a site distant from
the vaccine site. As a control, 100 µl of sterile water was also
administered i.d. Induration was measured using calipers and reported
in mm across two diameters at 48 h. Skin tests were read by one of
two research nurses trained in DTH assessment. The clinical staff was
blinded to the results of the laboratory tests and vice
versa because the analysis of skin and peripheral blood responses
was performed simultaneously.
Detection of Peripheral Blood T-Cell Responses.
HER-2/neu peptide-specific T-cell responses were measured at baseline
and at 30 days after each vaccination, prior to the next immunization.
Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were prepared by Ficoll-Paque
(Pharmacia AB, Uppsala, Sweden) centrifugation and resuspended in
medium consisting of equal parts of EHAA 120 (Biofluids Inc.,
Rockville, MD) and RPMI 1640 (Life Technologies, Inc., Grand
Island, NY) with L-glutamine, penicillin/streptomycin,
symbol 98 -2ME, and 10% AB serum (ICN Flow, Costa Mesa, CA).
PBMCs were cocultured with 50 µg/ml of the various individual
HER-2/neu peptides. Specifically, 2 x 105
PBMCs/well were plated into 96-well round-bottomed microtiter plates
(Costar, Cambridge, MA) with antigen at 37°C in an atmosphere of 5%
CO2 for 5 days. All antigens were tested in
24-well replicates. Eight h before termination of culture, each well
was pulsed with 1 µCi of [3H]thymidine (New
England Nuclear, Wilmington, DE). The cultures were then harvested onto
glass fiber filters, and the incorporated radioactivity was measured
with a Microbeta 1450 scintillation counter (Wallac, Turku, Finland).
Peripheral blood T-cell response data presented here are expressed as a
standard SI, which is defined as the mean of all 24 experimental wells
divided by the mean of the 24 control wells (no antigen).
Phytohemagglutinin, incubated with patient T cells at a
concentration of 5 µg/ml, was used as a positive control for the
ability of T cells to respond to antigen and produced an SI >2.0 in
all patient assays reported (data not shown).
Statistical Methods.
The association of postvaccination DTH responses with the probability
of a postvaccination antigen-specific SI >2.0 was examined using
logistic regression. Adjustments were made in the variance because of
the multiple samples taken per patient. An estimate of the OR was
obtained by exponentiating the appropriate parameter estimate from the
regression model. The associated 95% CI was obtained from the
parameter estimate and its adjusted error. The P from the
regression model is two-sided and was derived using the Wald test.
| RESULTS |
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10 mm2
Correlate Significantly to Antigen-specific Lymphocyte Proliferation
in Vitro.
10
mm2 (n = 27), between 5 and 9
mm2 (n = 35), and <5
mm2 (n = 31). Similarly, the
HER-2/neu peptide-specific peripheral blood T-cell responses were
defined as an SI
2.0 or an SI <2.0. Forty-three HER-2/neu peptide
peripheral blood T-cell analyses were associated with an SI
2.0. For
the majority of patients, the increased SI represented a change from
baseline values measured prior to the first immunization
(n = 41). One patient did not have an SI value for an
immunizing peptide at baseline because of a low number of cells
available for analysis, and a second patient had an SI of 2.0 at
baseline that did not increase after immunization. In vitro
T-cell responses were evaluated against an irrelevant nonimmunizing
peptide in all patients, and no patient demonstrated an increase in SI
over time to the irrelevant peptide (all SIs to irrelevant peptide
<2.0). Matched skin tests for those assays
2.0 demonstrated 21 DTH
responses
10 mm2, 13 DTH responses between 5
and 9 mm2, and 9 DTH responses <5
mm2 (Fig. 1)
10 mm2, 22 DTH
responses between 5 and 9 mm2, and 22 DTH
responses <5 mm2 (Fig. 1)
2.0 for a DTH
10 mm2 compared with a
DTH <5 mm2 were significant: OR = 8.2; 95%
CI, 2.527.0; P = 0.0006 (Table 2)
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2.0 increased as the DTH
response increased (P = 0.007) when the DTH response
was analyzed as a continuous variable. The odds of an SI
2.0 were
greater for a DTH measuring 59 mm2 than for a
DTH of <5 mm2 induration, although the
difference was not statistically significant: OR = 1.3; 95% CI,
0.53.8; P = 0.61 (Table 2)
10 mm2. There was no
association between a particular peptide and a significant DTH
response; however, the limited number of patients and multiple
parameters to be evaluated did not allow a rigorous statistical
evaluation (Table 3)
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| DISCUSSION |
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10
mm2 correlate significantly to a measurable
antigen-specific peripheral blood T-cell response. Many cancer vaccine strategies use intact tumor cells or tumor cell lysates; therefore, the potential immunizing antigen(s) are unknown. In these systems, it is very difficult to design in vitro T-cell assays that would measure potential immunization. Evaluation of the DTH response to tumor or tumor lysate is the primary method of immunological assessment. The measurement of DTH responses specific for whole tumor preparations has been shown to correlate with improved survival after immunization in patients with melanoma (6 , 7) . The data described here evaluated local and systemic T-cell immunity to tumor antigen-specific peptides after active immunization. Evaluation of peptide responses serves as a model for comparing the evaluation of DTH and in vitro T-cell responses after immunization in patients with advanced-stage cancer. These results indicate that significant DTH responses, which develop in cancer patients post immunization are, potentially, a reflection of the development of systemic cell mediated immunity.
| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
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| FOOTNOTES |
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1 Supported by NIH Grant P32 CA09515-14 (to
D. G. M. and K. R.), and by grants from NIH, the
National Cancer Institute (Grants K08 CA61834 and R01 CA75163 to
M. L. D.), the Cancer Research Treatment Foundation, and the
Department of Defense Breast Cancer Program. Patient care was conducted
through the Clinical Research Center Facility at the University of
Washington, which is supported through NIH Grant MO1-RR-00037. ![]()
2 To whom requests for reprints should be
addressed, at Box 356527, Oncology, University of Washington, Seattle,
WA 98195-6527. Phone: (206) 616-1823; Fax: (206) 685-3128; E-mail: ndisis{at}u.washington.edu ![]()
3 The abbreviations used are: DTH, delayed-type
hypersensitivity; i.d., interdermal; PBMC, peripheral blood mononuclear
cell; OR, odds ratio; CI, confidence interval; SI, stimulation index. ![]()
Received 7/12/99; revised 12/20/99; accepted 1/14/00.
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