Evaluation of immunotherapy using dendritic cells and tumor antigen peptide against patients with malignant gliomas

最近SART-3已被证明是恶性胶质瘤的肿瘤相关抗原。本研究评估了用SART-3抗原肽脉冲的DC免疫胶质瘤患者后是否会引发免疫反应，选择了8名HLA分型为HLA-A201和-A24的胶质瘤患者作为免疫治疗的候选人。分离外周血淋巴细胞（PBL），用多种细胞因子诱导DC，用SART-3抗原肽冲击DC，然后颈部皮下注射DC。患者接受4个周期的DC治疗。在DC注射前后，分离PBL并冷冻保存。通过酶联免疫斑点（ELISPOT）测定评价能够识别SART-3抗原肽的淋巴细胞的存在。1例患者在第四次DC免疫后显示出一定的应答，然而，6例患者没有。这些结果表明，SART-3抗原肽致敏DC细胞的免疫治疗可以诱导部分胶质瘤患者产生识别SART-3抗原的淋巴细胞。

Recently SART-3 has been shown to be an tumor-associated antigen of malignant gliomas. In this study, we evaluated whether immunological responses are elicited or not after immunization of the patients with gliomas using dendritic cells (DC) pulsed with SART-3 antigen peptide.Eight glioma patients whose HLA types were HLA-A201 and -A24 were selected as candidates for immunotherapy. Peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) were separated, DC were induced using several cytokines, DC were pulsed with SART-3 antigen peptide, and then the DC were injected subcutaneously at the neck. The patients received 4 cycles of DC therapy. Before and after the DC Injection, PBL were separated and kept in frozen. Presence of the lymphocytes that are able to recognize the SART-3 antigen peptide was evaluated by enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT) assay. One patient showed some response after the fourth DC immunization, however, 6 patients did not. One patient is waiting for the evaluation.These results indicate that the immunotherapy using DC cells pulsed with SART-3 antigen peptide can induce the lymphocytes which recognize the SART-3 antigen in some glioma patients.