Abstract
Evaluation of: Brody JD, Ai WZ, Czerwinski DK et al.In situ vaccination with a TLR9 agonist induces systemic lymphoma regression: a Phase I/II study. J. Clin. Oncol. 28(28), 4324–4332 (2010).
Despite high response rates of the follicular B-cell lymphoma to monoclonal antibodies, the clinical course of lymphoma is still characterized by a continuous pattern of relapse. Brody and colleagues treated 15 patients with relapsed, low-grade lymphoma using low-dose radiotherapy applied to one of the tumor sites with combined injection of a TLR-9 agonist at the same site. This strategy induced specific immunity and tumor regression in several patients with an objective response rate of 27%. The results indicate an involvement of the tumor TLR-9-expressing B cells acting as antigen-presenting cells. TLR-9 in situ vaccination combined with local radiotherapy clearly warrants further in-depth analysis and investigation in a Phase III randomized trial, and may provide a new opportunity for the treatment of B-cell malignancies.
Financial & competing interests disclosure
Martin R Weihrauch is a member of the scientific advisory board of Mologen AG, Berlin, Germany. 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.