Immunotherapy. 2016 Oct;8(10):1219-32. doi: 10.2217/imt-2016-0052.

Restoring anti-oncodriver Th1 responses with dendritic cell vaccines in HER2/neu-positive breast cancer: progress and potential.

De La Cruz LM¹, Nocera NF¹, Czerniecki BJ².

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¹Department of Endocrine & Oncologic Surgery, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA.

²Department of Breast Oncology, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, FL 33617, USA.

Abstract

HER2/neu is expressed in the majority of in situ breast cancers, but maintained in 20-30% of invasive breast cancer (IBC). During breast tumorigenesis, there is a progressive loss of anti-HER2 CD4(pos) Th1 (anti-HER2Th1) from benign to ductal carcinoma in situ, with almost complete loss in IBC. This anti-HER2Th1 response can predict response to neoadjuvant therapy, risk of recurrence and disease-free survival. Vaccines consisting of HER2-pulsed type I polarized dendritic cells (DC1) administered during ductal carcinoma in situ and early IBC can efficiently correct anti-HER2Th1 response and have clinical impact on the disease. In this review, we will discuss the role of anti-HER2Th1 response in the three phases of immunoediting during HER2 breast cancer development and opportunities for reversing these processes using DC1 vaccines alone or in combination with standard therapies. Correcting the anti-HER2Th1 response may represent an opportunity for improving outcomes and providing a path to eliminate escape variants.

KEYWORDS: adoptive cell therapy; checkpoint inhibitor; chemotherapy; dendritic cell; immunotherapy; multimodality; radiotherapy; targeted therapy

J Immunother. 2012 Jan;35(1):54-65. doi: 10.1097/CJI.0b013e318235f512.

A novel dendritic cell-based immunization approach for the induction of durable Th1-polarized anti-HER-2/neu responses in women with early breast cancer.

Koski GK¹, Koldovsky U, Xu S, Mick R, Sharma A, Fitzpatrick E, Weinstein S, Nisenbaum H, Levine BL, Fox K, Zhang P, Czerniecki BJ.

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¹Department of Biological Sciences, Kent State University, Kent, OH, USA.

Abstract

Twenty-seven patients with HER-2/neu overexpressing ductal carcinoma in situ of the breast were enrolled in a neoadjuvant immunization trial for safety and immunogenicity of DC1-polarized dendritic cells (DC1) pulsed with 6 HER-2/neu promiscuous major histocompatibility complex class II-binding peptides and 2 additional human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-A2.1 class I-binding peptides. DC1 were generated with interferon-γ and a special clinical-grade bacterial endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide) and administered directly into groin lymph nodes 4 times at weekly intervals before scheduled surgical resection of ductal carcinoma in situ. Patients were monitored for the induction of new or enhanced antipeptide reactivity by interferon-γ ELISPOT and enzyme-linked immunosorbentassays performed on Th cells obtained from peripheral blood or excised sentinel lymph nodes. Responses by cytotoxic T lymphocyte against HLA-A2.1-binding peptides were measured using peptide-pulsed T2 target cells or HER-2/neu-expressing or nonexpressing tumor cell lines. DC1 showed surface phenotype indistinct from “gold standard” inflammatory cocktail-activated DC, but displayed a number of distinguishing functional characteristics including the secretion of soluble factors and enhanced “killer DC” capacity against tumor cells in vitro. Postimmunization, we observed sensitization of Th cells to at least 1 class II peptide in 22 of 25 (88%; 95% exact confidence interval, 68.8%-97.5%) evaluable patients, whereas 11 of 13 (84.6%; 95% exact confidence interval, 64%-99.8%) HLA-A2.1 patients were successfully sensitized to class I peptides. Perhaps most importantly, anti-HER-2/neu peptide responses were observed up to 52-month postimmunization. These data show that even in the presence of early breast cancer such DC1 are potent inducers of durable type I-polarized immunity, suggesting potential clinical value for development of cancer immunotherapy.

Keywords: breast cancer, dendritic cell, vaccine, HER-2/neu

Immunotherapy. 2013 Nov;5(11):1177-82. doi: 10.2217/imt.13.126.

Up to 15-year clinical follow-up of a pilot Phase III immunotherapy study in stage II breast cancer patients using oxidized mannan-MUC1.

Vassilaros S¹, Tsibanis A, Tsikkinis A, Pietersz GA, McKenzie IF, Apostolopoulos V.

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¹Prolipsis Medical Centre, Athens, Greece.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Targeting antigens to dendritic cell receptors has recently become a popular approach to inducing effective immune responses against cancer antigens. Almost 20 years ago, however, we demonstrated that targeting the mannose receptor on macrophages and dendritic cellsleads to strong cellular immune responses. We conducted numerous human clinical trials demonstrating the effectiveness of oxidized mannan-MUC1 (M-FP) in MUC1(+) adenocarcinoma patients. In one trial, the 5-8-year follow-up of breast cancer patients vaccinated with M-FP was published previously; we now report here the 12-15-year follow-up. Details regarding the preparation of the vaccine, inclusion and exclusion criteria, immunotherapy and follow-up schedule, were published previously.

RESULTS:

The follow-up at 12-15 years showed that the recurrence rate in patients receiving placebo was 60% (nine of 15). In those receiving immunotherapy (M-FP), the rate was 12.5% (two of 16). The time of recurrence in the placebo group ranged from 7 to 180 months (mean: 65.8 months) and in the two patients of the vaccine group, the recurrence appeared at 95 and 141 months (mean: 118 months) after surgery. These findings are statistically significant (p = 0.02 for survival and p = 0.009 for percentage of patients cancer-free). All patients injected with M-FP showed no evidence of toxic effects or signs of autoimmunity during the 12-15-year follow-up.

DISCUSSION:

The preliminary evidence indicates that M-FP is beneficial in the overall survival of early-stage breast cancer patients. This long-term clinical follow-up of patients strongly supports the necessity for a large Phase III study of direct M-FP injection in early-stage breast cancer patients, to evaluate immunotherapy as an adjuvant treatment for breast cancer.