Vaccines for glioblastoma and high-grade glioma

Abstract

Vaccination by administering tumor antigen plus cell-free or cellular adjuvant has garnered hope for more effective, less toxic therapy for patients with malignant brain tumors including glioblastoma multiforme. To determine if this approach demonstrates ample clinical promise, all published reports of vaccination for glioma were evaluated. These reports suggest vaccination is associated with low toxicity and favorable clinical outcomes. The possibility of selection bias is evident in many published vaccine trials, but several of the more recent ones appropriately attempt to account for bias. Effective induction of antitumor immunity is consistently observed, and, in the latest trials, correlates with significant clinical improvement.

Keywords::

• cancer vaccine
• dendritic cell
• immunotherapy
• tumor antigen
• vaccination

Financial & competing interests disclosure

Keith L Black has ownership and stock interests in ImmunoCellular Therapeutics, Inc. Christopher J Wheeler and Keith L Black are holders of the following patents: US patent 7,705,010B2, ‘Use of minoxidil sulfate as an anti-cancer drug’, which describes combining DC vaccination with minoxidil sulfate to treat high-grade gliomas and US patent 7,939,090, ‘System and method for the treatment of cancer, including cancers of the central nervous system’, which describes combining DC vaccination with chemotherapy to treat high-grade gliomas. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.