Immunogenic Cancer Vaccine Targets Key Mutations in Kidney Cancer

THURSDAY, Feb. 6, 2025 (HealthDay News) — 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