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Immunogenic Cancer Vaccine Targets Key Mutations in Kidney Cancer

By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on Feb 7, 2025.

via HealthDay

THURSDAY, Feb. 6, 2025 -- Neoantigen-targeting personalized cancer vaccines (PCVs) are highly immunogenic in high-risk clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and can target key driver mutations and induce antitumor immunity, according to a study published online Feb. 5 in Nature.

David A. Braun, M.D., Ph.D., from the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut, and colleagues conducted a phase 1 trial to examine a neoantigen-targeting PCV in nine patients with high-risk, fully resected clear cell RCC (stage III or IV), with or without ipilimumab administered adjacent to the vaccine.

The researchers found that none of the participants had a recurrence of RCC at a median follow-up of 40.2 months after surgery; there were no dose-limiting toxicities reported. T-cell immune responses against the PCV antigens were generated by all patients, including to RCC driver mutations in VHL, PBRM1, BAP1, KDM5C, and PIK3CA. There was a durable expansion of peripheral T-cell clones observed following vaccination. In seven of nine patients, T-cell reactivity against autologous tumors was detected.

"The idea behind this trial was to specifically steer the immune system toward a target that is unique to the tumor," Braun said in a statement. "For patients with high-risk clear cell RCC, we want to improve postsurgery treatment options that reduce the risk of the cancer coming back."

Several authors disclosed ties to the biopharmaceutical industry.

Abstract/Full Text

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

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