Efficacy of a Dual-Epitope Dendritic Cell Vaccine as Part of Combined Immunotherapy for HER2-Expressing Breast Tumors

PMID: 37204246
Journal: Journal of immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950) (volume: 211, issue: 2, J Immunol 2023 Jul;211(2):219-228)
Published: 2023-07-15

Authors:
Vincent BG, File DM, McKinnon KP, Moore DT, Frelinger JA, Collins EJ, Ibrahim JG, Bixby L, Reisdorf S, Laurie SJ, Park YA, Anders CK, Collichio FA, Muss HB, Carey LA, van Deventer HW, Dees EC, Serody JS

ABSTRACT

Previous work from our group and others has shown that patients with breast cancer can generate a T cell response against specific human epidermal growth factor 2 (HER2) epitopes. In addition, preclinical work has shown that this T cell response can be augmented by Ag-directed mAb therapy. This study evaluated the activity and safety of a combination of dendritic cell (DC) vaccination given with mAb and cytotoxic therapy. We performed a phase I/II study using autologous DCs pulsed with two different HER2 peptides given with trastuzumab and vinorelbine to a study cohort of patients with HER2-overexpressing and a second with HER2 nonoverexpressing metastatic breast cancer. Seventeen patients with HER2-overexpressing and seven with nonoverexpressing disease were treated. Treatment was well tolerated, with one patient removed from therapy because of toxicity and no deaths. Forty-six percent of patients had stable disease after therapy, with 4% achieving a partial response and no complete responses. Immune responses were generated in the majority of patients but did not correlate with clinical response. However, in one patient, who has survived >14 y since treatment in the trial, a robust immune response was demonstrated, with 25% of her T cells specific to one of the peptides in the vaccine at the peak of her response. These data suggest that autologous DC vaccination when given with anti-HER2-directed mAb therapy and vinorelbine is safe and can induce immune responses, including significant T cell clonal expansion, in a subset of patients.