Vaccine benefits some prostate cancer patients in biochemical relapse.

2004 JUL 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Vaccination with autologous dendritic cells pulsed with recombinant human PSA benefits some prostatectomized prostate cancer patients in biochemical relapse.

"This study was conducted in prostate cancer patients in biochemical relapse after radical prostatectomy, to assess the feasibility, safety, and immunogenicity of therapeutic vaccination with autologous dendritic cells (DCs) pulsed with human recombinant prostate-specific antigen (PSA) (Dendritophage-rPSA). Twenty-four patients with histologically proven prostate carcinoma and an isolated postoperative rise of serum PSA (>1 ng/mL to 10 ng/mL) after radical prostatectomy were included. The patients received nine administrations of PSA-loaded DCs by combined intravenous, subcutaneous, and intradermal routes over 21 weeks," scientists in France report.

"Postbaseline blood tests were performed at months 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 (PSA levels), at months 6 and 12 (circulating prostate cancer cells), at month 6 (anti-PSA IgG and IgM antibodies), and at up to eight time points before, during, and after immunization (PSA-specific T cells)," said Benoit Barrou at the Hopital la Pitie-Salpetriere and collaborators in France. "Circulating prostate cancer cells detected in six patients at baseline were undetectable at 6 months and remained undetectable at 12 months. Eleven patients had a post-baseline transient PSA decrease on one to three occasions, predominantly occurring at month 1 (seven patients) or month 3 (two patients)."

"Maximum PSA decrease ranged from 6% to 39%," stated the researchers. "PSA decrease on at least one occasion was more frequent in patients with low Gleason score (p=0.016) at prostatectomy and with positive skin tests at study baseline (p=0.04). PSA-specific T cells were detected ex vivo ...