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In situ atmospheric measurements are a high priority for any future Flagship mission to the Ice Giants; however, most current mission concepts only include a single atmospheric entry probe in their...

In primary glioblastoma (GBM), overall survival (OS) is poor despite standard aggressive therapy. Adjunctive AV-GBM-1 vaccine immunotherapy may improve OS. In this multi-institutional phase II trial, key eligibility criteria for intent-to-treat (ITT) enrollment were: (1) primary GBM, (2) age < 70 years when GBM was resected, (3) successful GBM cell culture, (4) successful monocyte collection by leukapheresis, (5) KPS > 70 post-surgery, and (6) plan to treat with concurrent RT/TMZ. Dendritic cells (DC) were differentiated from monocytes by culturing in IL-4 and granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF). AV-GBM-1 consisted of autologous DC incubated with autologous tumor antigens contained in the lysate of irradiated cultured GBM cells. After recovery from RT/TMZ, doses were admixed with 500 mcg GM-CSF; up to 8 doses were injected subcutaneously over 6 months. Patients were not excluded by apparent progression or pseudo-progression post RT/TMZ. OS and progression-free-survival (PFS) were calculated from ITT enrollment. The success rate was 97% for both GBM cell cultures and collection of monocytes; 60/60 vaccines were successfully manufactured. Median age was 59 years. 57 patients received 392 injections. After two weekly injections there were significant increases in plasma lipocalin-2 and angiopoietin-1, and decreases in thrombospondin-5, angiotensinogen, and beta-fibroblast growth factor. The most common adverse events attributed to AV-GBM-1 were local injection site reactions (16%) and flu-like symptoms (10%). With follow up from 15.2 to 32 months, median PFS and OS were 10.3 (8.5,11.6 95% CI) and 16.0 (13.0,21.3 95% CI) months respectively. OS was better in the 25 patients who had methylguanine-methyltransferase (MGMT) methylation and/or isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) mutation. Age was not independently correlated with survival. From date of first injection, OS was not increased in 14 patients who were treated with alternating electrical tumor-treating fields. CONCLUSION: feasibility, safety, and PFS were encouraging. A phase III trial is in development. Clinicaltrials.gov NCT03400917.

BackgroundStandard therapy of glioblastoma (GBM), which includes maximum safe resection, concurrent radiation therapy and temozolomide chemotherapy (RT/TMZ) followed by maintenance TMZ, is associated with poor overall survival (OS). Adding treatment with AV-GBM-1, a vaccine consisting of autologous dendritic cells (DC) pulsed with autologous tumor antigens (ATA) may improve OS. A multi-center phase II clinical trial was conducted to determine feasibility, safety, and efficacy of AV-GBM-1.MethodsKey eligibility criteria for tumor collection were clinical suspicion of newly diagnosed GBM and age 18 to 70 years at the time of surgery. Prior to starting RT/TMZ, key eligibility criteria for intent-to-treat-with-AV-GBM-1 enrollment were: (1) primary GBM confirmed, (2) successful GBM cell culture, (3) collection of sufficient numbers of monocytes (MC) by leukapheresis, (4) Karnofsky Performance Status 70 or greater and (5) plan to treat with concurrent RT/TMZ. AV-GBM-1 was manufactured during RT/TMZ. Interleukin-4 and granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) were used to differentiate MC into DC. AV-GBM-1 consists of autologous DC incubated with ATA from the lysate of irradiated GBM cells grown in serum-free media with factors that favor the survival and proliferation of stem cells and early progenitor cells. After recovery from RT/TMZ, over six months patients received up to 8 subcutaneous injections of AV-GBM-1 admixed with 500 μg GM-CSF. The primary objective was to determine if OS was 75% or higher 14.6 months from ITT enrollment, which ended January 2020. The minimum follow-up at the time of analysis was 15.2 months. Secondary endpoints included progression-free survival (PDS) from ITT enrollment and from the first injection.ResultsSuccess rates for cell cultures and sufficient monocyte collections were both 97%. AV-GBM-1 was manufactured for 60/60 (100%). 57 patients received 392 injections; 68% received all 8. The primary adverse events (AE) attributed to AV-GBM-1 were local injection site reactions (16%) and flu-like symptoms (10%). Progression-free survival (PFS) from ITT enrollment is 10.3 months, about 50% longer than reported in four randomized trials with comparable standard therapy arms. PFS from the first injection is 8.3 months, which is 51% and 107% longer than reported in two randomized trials with comparable standard therapy arms. OS was 72% at 12 months, but dropped to 54% at 14.6 months; median OS is 16.0 months.ConclusionsPatent-specific AV-GBM-1 was reliably manufactured and distributed for administration. AV-GBM-1 produced minimal toxicity. PFS was very encouraging but did not translate into OS, perhaps because of discontinuation of treatment after 8 months.Trial Registration[Clinicaltrials.gov NCT03400917]Ethics ApprovalWestern IRB, approval number 20182582Consent n/a

BackgroundStandard aggressive therapy of glioblastoma (GBM), which includes maximum safe resection, concurrent radiation therapy and temozolomide chemotherapy (RT/TMZ) followed by maintenance TMZ, is associated with a 25% 2-year overall survival (OS). Adding treatment with AV-GBM-1, a vaccine consisting of autologous dendritic cells (DC) pulsed with autologous tumor antigens (ATA) may improve OS by inducing and/or enhancing the host anti-GBM immune response. Methylation of the O-6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) gene promoter, and mutation of the gene for isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) are favorable prognostic markers in newly diagnosed GBM. An objective of a multi-center phase II clinical trial was to determine whether these markers were still prognostic for OS in patients treated with adjunctive AV-GBM-1.MethodsKey eligibility criteria for intent-to-treat (ITT) enrollment were: (1) confirmation of primary GBM, (2) successful GBM cell culture, (3) collection of sufficient numbers of monocytes (MC) by leukapheresis, (4) Karnofsky Performance Status 70 or greater after recovery from surgery, and (5) plan to treat with concurrent RT/TMZ. AV-GBM-1 was manufactured while patients were being treated with RT/TMZ. Interleukin-4 and granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) were used to differentiate DC from MC. Each vaccine consisted of autologous DC incubated with ATA from the lysate of irradiated cultured GBM cells grown in serum-free media with factors that favor survival and proliferation of stem cells and early progenitor cells (tumor-initiating cells). After recovery from RT/TMZ, intent was to vaccinate for up to six months with cryopreserved AV-GBM-1 admixed with 500 mg GM-CSF. All patients had testing for MGMT-methylation and IDH-mutation. OS was calculated from date of ITT enrollment.Results60 patients were enrolled during August 2018 to January 2020. MGMT promoter methylation was detected in 21 (35%), mutated IDH in 7 (12%), and one or both in 25 (42%). At a minimum follow-up of 15 months, median OS had not been reached for patients with a methylated MGMT promotor, IDH mutation, or one or both, compared to 14.6 months for 38 with unmethylated MGMT promotor (p=0.026), 14.7 months for 53 with IDH wild-type (p=0.044), and 14.6 months for 35 who had neither (p=0.017). 18-month OS rates were 59% vs 35% for MGMT promotor methylation, 71% vs 40% for IDH mutation and 58% vs 32% for either.ConclusionsBoth MGMT promotor methylation and IDH mutation were associated with a substantial and similar survival benefit in primary GBM patients treated with AV-GBM-1 in addition to standard aggressive therapy.Trial RegistrationClinicaltrialsgov NCT03400917Ethics ApprovalThis study was approved by the Western IRB, approval number 20182582; all participants gave written informed consent before taking part

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to illustrate how cancer registry data can be used to address questions of quality assurance and continuous quality improvement, and to generate contemporary cohorts of patients for retrospective studies. The history and purpose of hospital cancer registries is reviewed and examples of use of registry data provided. Methods: Cancer Registry information, manuals, and definitions were reviewed. The 25-year experience of the lead author in collaborating with registrars and using the cancer registry of a large community hospital in southern California is described. The strengths and weaknesses of such data are discussed. Examples of completed studies are provided to illustrate how such data was organized, analyzed, and presented to physicians and administrators, and for peer reviewed publications. Results: The strengths of such data are the large numbers of patients, validity of date of diagnosis, histologic diagnosis, general stage, and date of death. The major limitations of the data are due to incomplete reporting of specific treatment regimens, especially after the initial 4-month period of management. The quality assurance and quality improvement studies generated proved to be of great interest to local physicians and administrators. Several such studies were used in peer-reviewed publications. The interest and job satisfaction of registrars, and data quality all improved when registry data was being used and reported locally rather than merely being submitted to a national data repository. Conclusion: In the absence of comprehensive integrated medical care data bases, high-quality cancer registries can be used to address local issues related to quality improvement and quality assurance and provide data for peer-reviewed publications.

This report describes efforts to understand the immune mechanism of action that led to a complete response in a patient with progressive, refractory, metastatic melanoma after treatment with a therapeutic vaccine consisting of autologous dendritic cells (DC) loaded with autologous tumor antigens (ATA) derived from cells that were self-renewing in cell culture. Her histocompatibility type proved to be HLA B27 with extensive mutations in the HLA-A locus. Exomic analysis of proliferating tumor cells revealed more than 2800 non-synonymous mutations compared to her leukocytes. Histology of resected tumor lesions showed no evidence of an existing or suppressed immune response. In in vitro mixed cell cultures, DC loaded with ATA induced increased IL-22 expression, and a four-fold increase in CD8 + T lymphocytes. Cryopreserved blood samples obtained at week-0, 1 week before the first of three-weekly vaccine injections, and at week-4, 1 week after the third dose, were analyzed by protein array and compared for 110 different serum markers. At baseline, she had marked elevations of amyloid A, IL-12p40, IL21, IL-22, IL-10, IL-16, GROa, TNF-alpha, IL-3, and IL-2, and a lesser elevation of IL-15. One week after 3 weekly vaccinations she had a further 80% increase in amyloid A, a further 66% increase in IL-22, a 92% decrease in IL12p40, a 45% decrease in TGF-β and 26% decrease in IL-10. The data suggested that by 3 weeks after the first DCV injection, vaccine-induced changes in this particular patient were most consistent with enhanced innate and Th1 immune responses rather than Th2 or Th17.

Because of its role as an immune checkpoint, levels of soluble programmed cell death protein-1 (sPD-1) could be useful as a prognostic biomarker or predictive biomarker in cancer patients treated with vaccines. Very low levels of sPD-1 may indicate lack of an existing anti-cancer immune response; very high levels may indicate an active immune response that is suppressed. In between these extremes, a decrease in PD-1 following injections of an anti-cancer vaccine may indicate an enhanced immune response that has not been suppressed. Blood samples obtained during a randomized trial in patients with metastatic melanoma were tested from 22 patients treated with a tumor cell vaccine (TCV) and 17 treated with a dendritic cell vaccine (DCV). Survival was better in DCV-treated patients. sPD-1 was measured at week-0, one week before the first of three weekly subcutaneous injections, and at week-4, one week after the third injection. The combination of a very low baseline sPD-1, or absence of a very high PD-1 at baseline followed by a decline in sPD-1 at week-4, was predictive of surviving three or more years in DCV-treated patients, but not TCV-treated. Among DCV-treated patients, these sPD-1 criteria appropriately classified 8/10 (80%) of 3-year survivors, and 6/7 (86%) of patients who did not survive three years. These preliminary observations suggest that sPD-1 might be a useful biomarker for melanoma patients being considered for treatment with this DCV vaccine, and/or to predict efficacy after only three injections, but this would have to be confirmed in larger studies.

Standard aggressive therapy for primary newly diagnosed glioblastoma (GBM), which includes surgical resection followed by concurrent radiation therapy and temozolomide chemotherapy (RT/TMZ) and then maintenance TMZ, is associated with poor survival rates. Adding treatment with AV-GBM-1, a personal vaccine consisting of autologous dendritic cells (DC) pulsed with autologous tumor antigens (ATA) may improve survival. AV-GBM-1 is produced by incubating ATA with autologous DC. ATA are from a lysate of irradiated autologous GBM cells that were self-renewing in serum-free medium with factors that favor survival and proliferation of tumor initiating cells, i.e., stem cells and early progenitor cells. After recovery from RT/TMZ, GBM patients were injected subcutaneously with AV-GBM-1 admixed in granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) at weeks 1, 2, 3, 8, 12, 16, 20, and 24. This study examined changes in plasma proteomics before and after injections of AV-GBM-1. 57 patients were treated during November 2018 to October 2020. Median progression-free and overall survival were 10.3 and 16.0 months respectively. Plasma samples obtained at baseline (week-0), and just prior to the third injection (week-2) were cryopreserved and subsequently analyzed for 448 proteomic markers using quantitative, multiplex enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (Raybiotech, Inc., Norcross, GA.). 54 patients had a baseline week-0 sample prior to the 1st vaccination; 50 had a week-2 sample just prior to the 3rd dose; 49 had paired samples for both time-points. The averages of paired samples were measured for all patients and for cohorts defined by median survival that were compared by 2-tail T-Tests. After two weekly injections there were significant (p Citation Format: Daniela A. Bota, David E. Piccioni, Christopher M. Duma, Renato V. LaRoca, Santosh Kesari, Mehrdad Abedi, Robert D. Aiken, Aleksandra J. Poole, Gabriel I. Nistor, Robert O. Dillman. Plasma proteomic markers prognostic or predictive for survival of patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma who were treated in a phase II trial with standard care and the addition of the novel patient-specific dendritic cell vaccine AV-GBM-1 [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2022; 2022 Apr 8-13. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;82(12_Suppl):Abstract nr CT571.

e14018 Background: Seizures are not an uncommon presenting symptom of glioblastoma (GBM), and may occur following surgery for GBM. Such seizures typically can be controlled with anti-epileptics, and the risk of seizures seems to decrease after concurrent radiation therapy and temozolomide chemotherapy (RT/TMZ). However, the risk of seizures theoretically might be increased in association with a therapeutic intervention designed to enhance local inflammation at the GBM site. 33% of patients experienced one or more seizures as a treatment-emergent-adverse-event (TEAE) during a phase II clinical trial of AV-GBM-1, patient-specific dendritic cell vaccines that consist of autologous dendritic cells loaded with autologous tumor associated antigens derived from a short-term culture of self-renewing tumor cells, that were injected subcutaneously for up to six months after recovery following concurrent RT/TMZ (Bota DA et al. 2021 Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) late-breaking abstract #952, 2021 Society of Neuro-Oncology abstract #CTIM-33). A literature search was conducted to determine reported rates of seizures as TEAE in primary GBM patients in clinical trials. Methods: Phase III trials of systemic treatment of primary GBM, and published during 2005 to 2021, were identified by searches of clinicaltrials.gov and PubMed. Published reports were reviewed for data describing the frequency of seizures reported as TEAE in text and/or summary tables. Only trials that had at least 50 patients in a standard treatment arm of surgical resection, RT/TMZ and maintenance TMZ were included. Chi square test was used to compare proportions of patients experiencing seizures in these trials. Results: Eight such randomized trials were identified. Five trials did not mention seizures as TEAE. One trial provided data only for grade 3 and 4 events: 13/229 (5.7%). The other two trials reported all seizures regardless of grade, but were limited to patient populations with O6-methylguanine-DNA-methyltransferase promoter methylation in one, and epidermal growth factor receptor amplification in the other. The rates of seizures in those two trials were much lower than the 19/57 (33.0%) reported with AV-GBM-1: 28/258 (10.9%, p < 0.0001), and 69/372 (15.4%, p = 0.0136). Conclusions: The frequency of seizures that occur in GBM patients receiving standard RT/TMZ is not well-documented in publications of large, randomized trials. AV-GBM-1 may be associated with a higher rate of seizures because of treatment-induced inflammation at the tumor site, but a randomized trial would be needed to determine this.

Author(s): Bota, Daniela; Piccioni, David; LaRocca, R; Duma, Christopher; Kesari, Santosh; Carrillo, Jose; O’Donnell, Robert T; Aiken, Robert; Hsu, Frank; Kong, Xiao-Tang; Hsieh, Candace; Langford, Chris; Carta, Krystal; Wang, Adrienne; Langford, James; Taylor, Thomas; Nistor, Gabriel; Dillman, Robert | Abstract: Abstract GBM standard treatment is associated with poor survival. Adjunctive therapy with patient-specific vaccines may improve outcomes by enhancing anti-GBM immune responses. A multi-institutional phase II clinical trial was designed with a primary objective of 75% survival 15 months after intent-to-treat enrollment. IL-4 and GM-CSF were used to generate dendritic cells (DC) from monocytes. DC were incubated with autologous tumor antigens (ATA) from the lysate of cultured GBM cells to produce each patient-specific DC-ATA vaccine. Each dose was admixed with 500 mcg GM-CSF at the time of subcutaneous injections at weeks 1, 2, 3, 8, 12, 16, 20 and 24. Enrollment has been completed in April 2020 (n=60). Three patients withdrew from the study prior to starting treatment leaving 57 patients for whom data is available. So far 57 patients have received 344 doses; 27 have completed all 8 doses, 11 received fewer than 8 doses at the time they discontinued treatment, 19 are currently in treatment. No patient has discontinued treatment because of toxicity. 9 pt had died and the preliminary 12 months overall survival is 74%. In a preliminary serologic analysis 12 of 16 patients (75%) had an increase in markers associated with Th1/NK, Th2/immunoglobulins, and Th2 hypersensitivity (eotaxins, IgE and IL17F) by week-3; 9 of 15 (60%) had a decrease in angiogenesis factors, growth factors, and tumor markers by week-8. Immunologic data for all 55 patients who received at least two injections will be available November 2020. This patient-specific DC-ATA immunotherapy approach is feasible, is associated with changes in serologic markers, and may be increasing intratumor inflammation that may be associated with on-target toxicity and efficacy. A interim survival analysis will be conducted in mid-October 2020, 15 months after the 28th patient was enrolled; results will be available November 2020 [Clinicaltrials.gov NCT03400917].

Background Primary glioblastoma (GBM) is associated with poor survival. Adjunctive vaccines may improve survival by inducing or enhancing anti-GBM immune responses. Methods A multi-institutional phase II clinical trial was conducted with a primary objective of 75% survival 15 months after intent-to-treat enrollment. Key eligibility criteria were: (1) primary GBM diagnosis, (2) age 70 after surgical recovery. Dendritic cells (DC) were differentiated from autologous monocytes, then incubated with autologous tumor antigens (ATA) from the GBM cell line-lysate to produce each patient-specific DC-ATA vaccine. Doses were suspended in 500 mcg granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) at the time of subcutaneous injections at weeks 1, 2, 3, 8, 12, 16, 20 and 24. Patients were enrolled just prior to starting standard concurrent temozolomide (TMZ) and radiation therapy (RT) for the intent-to-treat after recovery from RT/TMZ. Results Tumors were collected August 2018-January 2020. Cell line success rate was 71/73 (97%); monocyte collection success rate was 63/65 (97%), but 10 patients required a second leukapheresis. Patients were enrolled for in-to-treat October 2018-February 2020. The 60 patients included 42 men and 18 women with median age of 59 years (range of 27–70). Racial make-up was 43 White, 10 Hispanic, 2 Black, 1 Asian and 3 Other. KPS was 100 in 4, 90 in 25, 80 in 17 and 70 in 14 (mean 83.2). MGMT methylation was present in 13, absent in 31, and unknown in 16; IDH mutation was present in 7, absent in 50, and unknown in 3. 57 patients had received 380 doses with 9 still under treatment at time of abstract submission. 32 had completed all 8 doses; 16 had received fewer than 8 doses when they discontinued treatment. No patient discontinued treatment because of toxicity, but 28 have been hospitalized for 53 treatment-emergent central nervous system-related serious adverse events including seizures (15 episodes), falls and/or increased focal weakness (13 episodes), or severe headaches or visual changes (3 episodes). Conclusions This patient-specific DC-ATA approach is feasible and may be increasing intratumor inflammation that is associated with on-target efficacy and/or toxicity. An interim survival analysis will be conducted in October 2020, 15 months after the median patient was enrolled; results will be available November 2020 as will immunologic data for 55 patients who received at least two injections. Trial Registration Clinicaltrials. gov NCT03400917. Ethics Approval The study was approved by UCI IRB, approval number 2018-4148.

GM-CSF drives the differentiation of granulocytes and monocyte/macrophages from hematopoietic stem cell progenitors. It is required for differentiating monocytes into dendritic cells (DC). Although approved for recovery of granulocytes/monocytes in patients receiving chemotherapy, G-CSF is preferred. Enthusiasm for GM-CSF monotherapy as a melanoma treatment was dampened by two large randomized trials. Although GM-CSF has been injected into tumors for many years, the efficacy of this has not been tested. There is a strong rationale for GM-CSF as a vaccine adjuvant, but it appears of benefit only for strategies that directly involve DCs, such as intratumor talimogene laherparepvec and vaccines in which DCs are loaded with antigen ex vivo and injected admixed with GM-CSF.

The hypoxia and profound inflammatory response associated with the pneumonitis observed with the severe acute respiratory virus coronavirus-2 (SARS-COV-2) virus responsible for the recent COVID-19 pandemic has overwhelmed intensive care facilities in the epicenters of infection including Wuhan

We present the outcome of a mission concept study that designed a small atmospheric entry probe and examined the feasibility and benefit of a future multi-probe mission to Uranus. We call our design the Small Next-generation Atmospheric Probe (SNAP). The primary scientific objective of a multi-probe mission is to reveal spatial variability of atmospheric conditions. This article first highlights that not all measurements must be repeated by multiple probes; some quantities, notably the noble gas abundances and elemental isotopic ratios, are not expected to be variable, and thus need to be performed only by a single large Primary Probe. Our study demonstrates that, by focusing its measurements on spatially variable quantities including atmospheric vapor concentrations, thermal stratification and wind speed, a viable atmospheric probe design is realized with an entry system with 50-cm heatshield diameter and 30-kg atmospheric entry mass. As a case study, we present a detailed analysis of adding SNAP to a notional Uranus Orbiter with Probe mission, which launches in 2031 and arrives at Uranus in 2043, designed by the NASA-funded Science Definition Team study in 2017. We demonstrate that, with minimal changes to the notional carrier mission, a large Primary Probe and SNAP can be delivered to the winter and summer hemispheres to examine seasonal atmospheric variabilities, and transmit data to the Orbiter, which in turn relays the data to Earth. The additional maneuvers needed to deliver SNAP totals a Delta-V of 84 m/s, and consumes 43 kg of propellant. The addition of SNAP is expected to cost $79.5 million in FY2018 dollars; thus, our study demonstrates that a multi-probe mission can be implemented with a 4% cost increase relative to the $2.0 billion cost estimate of the notional mission designed by NASA’s Ice Giant Flagship Science Definition Team study reported in 2017. The SNAP design incorporates several technologies that are currently under development at various Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) between TRL = 4 and TRL = 6. In particular, our study recommends targeted technology development in Thermal Protection System materials, advanced batteries, and miniaturized instruments to enable and enhance future small atmospheric probes like SNAP.

Metastatic renal cell cancer is typically resistant to chemotherapy but does respond to vascular endothelial growth factor receptor signal transduction inhibition and to a variety of immunotherapies, including interleukin (IL)-2 and monoclonal antibodies that inhibit immune checkpoints. Enhanced immune recognition of tumor antigens may improve clinical outcomes. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of a patient-specific approach utilizing autologous dendritic cell vaccines and self-renewing autologous tumor cells in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma.

Background Despite improved survival following checkpoint inhibitors, there is still a potential role for anti-cancer therapeutic vaccines. Because of biological heterogeneity and neoantigens resulting from each patient’s mutanome, autologous tumor may be the best source of tumor-associated antigens (TAA) for vaccines. Ex vivo loading of autologous dendritic cells with TAA may be associated with superior clinical outcome compared to injecting irradiated autologous tumor cells. We conducted a randomized phase II trial to compare autologous tumor cell vaccines (TCV) and autologous dendritic cell vaccines (DCV) loaded with autologous TAA. Methods Short-term autologous tumor cell lines were established from metastatic tumor. Vaccines were admixed with 500 micrograms of GM-CSF and injected weekly for 3 weeks, then at weeks 8, 12,16, 20, and 24. The primary endpoint was overall survival. Secondary objectives were identification of adverse events, and results of delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH) reactions to intradermal tumor cell injections. Results Forty-two patients were randomized. All were followed from randomization until death or for five years; none were lost to follow-up. DCV was associated with longer survival: median 43.4 versus 20.5 months (95% CI, 18.6 to > 60 versus 9.3 to 32.3 months) and a 70% reduction in the risk of death (hazard ratio = 0.304, p = 0.0053, 95% CI, 0.131 to 0.702). Tumor DTH reactions were neither prognostic nor predictive. The most common treatment-related adverse events were mild to moderate local injection site reactions and flu-like symptoms; but grade 2 treatment-related adverse events were more frequent with TCV. Serum marker analyses at week-0 and week-4 showed that serum markers were similar at baseline in each arm, but differed after vaccination. Conclusions This is the only human clinical trial comparing DCV and TCV as platforms for autologous TAA presentation. DCV was associated with minimal toxicity and long-term survival in patients with metastatic melanoma. DTH to autologous tumor cells was neither prognostic for survival nor predictive of benefit for either vaccine. Trial registration Clinical trials.gov NCT00948480 retrospectively registered 28 July 2009. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s40425-018-0330-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

BackgroundDespite standard aggressive therapy (maximum safe surgical resection, concurrent radiation therapy and temozolomide chemotherapy (RT/TMZ), then maintenance TMZ), 2-year survival is only about 25% for patients with newly diagnosed primary glioblastoma (GBM). Adding AV-GBM-1, a vaccine consisting of autologous dendritic cells (DC) pulsed with autologous tumor antigens (ATA) may improve survival. One objective of a multi-center phase II clinical trial was to determine the feasibility of collecting fresh GBM and establishing short-term cell cultures of GBM tumor-initiating cells (TIC) to serve as ATA source.MethodsKey eligibility criteria for tumor collection were (1) clinical suspicion of new primary GBM, (2) age 18 to 70 years (3) tentative agreement to undergo a leukapheresis procedure after recovery from surgery, and (4) tentative plans for RT/TMZ. Fresh tumor was placed in media and shipped in a transport kit by overnight courier to AIVITA where a cell suspension was placed in culture and incubated in serum-free medium with factors that favor survival and proliferation of TICS (stem cells and early progenitor cells). The intent was to produce a patient-specific DC-ATA vaccine by incubating a lysate of irradiated TICs with autologous DC for subsequent subcutaneous injection.ResultsPatients were enrolled from five sites in California, one in Kentucky and one in New Jersey. Tumors were collected between August 2018 and January 2020. 106 patients consented for tumor collection, but 15 were not GBM, 4 had insufficient tissue to send, 2 patients withdrew consent, 4 were ineligible because of age, and 1 was ineligible because of autoimmune disease. Of the 80 GBM tumors that were placed into culture, 7 were discontinued because of patient withdrawal. 71/73 (97%) resulted in a successful cell culture; two were unsuccessful because of contamination. 60/71 subsequently consented for intent-to-treat ; 46/60 (77%) had cells in culture for 28 days or less, 11 were in culture for 30 to 35 days, and the remaining 3 were cultured 46, 54, and 55 days. The average number of cells per culture at the time of irradiation was 14.0 million (range 0.78 to 63.3 million). 58/60 (97%) yielded more than 1 million TICs for irradiation for the tumor cell lysate; 36/60 (60%) had more than 10 million cells irradiated. 57 patients were subsequently treated with AV-GBM-1 after recovery from RT/TMZ.ConclusionsSelf-renewing GBM TIC cultures can be reliably and rapidly established for use as the antigen source for personal DC-ATA vaccines.Trial RegistrationClinicaltrialsgov NCT03400917Ethics ApprovalThis study was approved by the Western IRB, approval number 20182582; all participants gave written informed consent before taking part

BackgroundFor patients with newly diagnosed primary glioblastoma (GBM), maximum safe surgical resection, concurrent radiation therapy and temozolomide chemotherapy (RT/TMZ) followed by maintenance TMZ results in a 2-year survival of only 25%. Adding treatment with AV-GBM-1, a personal vaccine consisting of autologous dendritic cells (DC) pulsed with autologous tumor antigens (ATA), may improve survival. One objective of a multi-center phase II clinical trial was to determine the feasibility of collecting sufficient monocytes (MC) from which to generate DC for pulsing with ATA from GBM tumor-initiating cells (TIC).MethodsPeripheral blood mononuclear cells were collected by leukapheresis per local standard operating procedures, then shipped by overnight courier to the AIVITA laboratory in Irvine, CA. The product was enriched for MC using the Elutra® Cell Separation System (Terumo, Lakewood, CO.). If fewer than 450 million MC were collected, an additional leukapheresis was allowed. MC were cryopreserved in liquid nitrogen and subsequently thawed and incubated in media containing granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor and interleukin-4 to differentiate MC into DC. Batches of patient-specific AV-GBM-1 were produced by incubating autologous DC with a lysate of irradiated TICs and aliquoted into individual doses.ResultsPatients enrolled from five sites in California, one in Kentucky and one in New Jersey. 65 patients underwent 77 leukapheresis procedures between September 2018 and February 2020; 54 underwent a single pheresis, 10 two phereses, and 1 three (all unsuccessful). The average time from surgical resection to first pheresis was 26 days (range 6 to 90; 64/65 within 51 days). 63/65 (97%) had sufficient MC collected, 53/65 (82%) from a single leukapheresis; 10 required a second procedure. The interval from surgery to first pheresis was the same for those for whom MC collections were satisfactory after one pheresis compared to those who required more than one. The success rate for MC collection for East-coast sites was 14/15 versus 52/62 for West-coast sites (p=0.68); so, longer shipping distance was not an issue. 60 patients who enrolled with intent-to-treat had an average of 1.7 billion monocytes cryopreserved, which were subsequently thawed and differentiated into DC. An average of 750 million DC were incubated with ATA for the final DC-ATA product.ConclusionsLeukapheresis procedures reliably resulted in collection of sufficient numbers of monocytes to generate DC and large batches of personal AV-GBM-1 vaccines. Success after a single leukapheresis was not related to the interval from surgery to pheresis procedure, or distance from the processing site.Trial RegistrationClinicaltrialsgov NCT03400917Ethics ApprovalThis study was approved by the Western IRB, approval number 20182582; all participants gave written informed consent before taking part

BackgroundDespite standard aggressive therapy, including maximum safe surgical resection, concurrent radiation therapy and temozolomide chemotherapy (RT/TMZ) followed by maintenance TMZ, survival is still extremely poor for patients with newly diagnosed primary glioblastoma (GBM). Adding treatment with AV-GBM-1, a personal vaccine consisting of autologous dendritic cells (DC) pulsed with autologous tumor antigens (ATA) may improve survival. One objective of a multi-center phase II clinical trial was to determine changes in blood proteomics before and after injections of AV-GBM-1.MethodsAV-GBM-1 consists of autologous DC incubated with ATA from a lysate of irradiated autologous GBM cells that had been placed in culture and incubated in serum-free medium with factors that favor the survival and proliferation of stem cells and early progenitor cells. After recovery from RT/TMZ, GBM patients were injected subcutaneously with AV-GBM-1 admixed in granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) at weeks 1, 2, 3, 8, 12, 16, 20, and 24. Blood samples obtained at baseline (week-0), just prior to the third injection (week-2) and just prior to the fourth injection (week-8), were cryopreserved and subsequently analyzed for 448 proteomic markers using quantitative, multiplex enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (Raybiotech, Inc., Norcross, GA.). In this preliminary analysis the averages of paired samples for each time point were determined and compared using the student T-Test with a focus on differences of pResultsPatients were enrolled from five sites in California, and one each in Kentucky and New Jersey. 57 patients were treated during November 2018 to October 2020. Paired samples from all three time points were available for 49 patients. After two weekly injections there were increases in thymus-and activation-regulated chemokine (TARC, CCL17), the chemotactic protein chemerin, lipocalin-2, (expressed by macrophages and epithelium in response to inflammation) and angiopoietin-1 (suppressor of vascular inflammation), and decreases in thrombospondin-5 (possibly involved in synaptogenesis in brain repair), angiotensinogen (a precursor of all angiotensin peptides), and beta-fibroblast growth factor (important in tissue repair). The increase in TARC (pConclusionsIf there were humoral changes in proteins associated with Th1 and Th2 responses, these were no longer present after two weekly vaccinations. More sophisticated analyses of this data set, such as principal component analysis, may be needed to understand the effects of AV-GBM-1.Trial RegistrationClinicaltrialsgov NCT03400917Ethics ApprovalThis study was approved by the Western IRB, approval number 20182582; all participants gave written informed consent before taking part

Signal transduction inhibitors and anticheckpoint antibodies have significantly improved survival for metastatic melanoma patients, but most still die within 5 years. Vaccine approaches to induce immunity to well-characterized melanoma-associated antigens, or to antigens expressed on allogeneic tumor cell lines, have not resulted in approved agents. Despite the limitations associated with the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment, there now is one intralesional autologous vaccine approved for patients who have primarily soft-tissue metastases. There is continued interest in patient-specific vaccines, especially dendritic cell vaccines that utilize ex vivo loading of autologous antigen, thus bypassing certain in vivo immunosuppressive cells and cytokines. Because of their mechanism of action and limited toxicity, they are potentially synergistic or additive to other antimelanoma therapies.

Newly-diagnosed glioblastoma (GBM) patients have a limited survival (18–24 months). In the last decade immunotherapy has improved survival for patients with other malignancies, but not GBM. Herein we present the design and initial enrollment results for the AV-GBM-1 single-arm phase 2 trial. The study enrolls patients with primary GBM who have undergone craniotomy, have a tumor cell culture established, and complete satisfactory leukapheresis prior to planned concurrent chemotherapy and radiation. Patients are scheduled to receive up to 8 vaccine injections at weeks 1, 2, 3, 8, 12, 16, 20 and 24. Blood samples are collected just prior to each injection. The primary endpoint is overall survival from date of enrollment for intent-to-treat with AV-GBM-1. The study has fully enrolled 26 of planned 55 patients. The cell line success rate is 30/32, with 6 in progress; successful completion of leukapheresis is 28/29. Two patients have completed all 8 doses, two discontinued after dose 3 and dose 6 because of progressive disease; 15 are currently in treatment, and 6 are about to start treatment. There have been seven SAE, all for hospitalizations related to GBM. For the first 8 treated patients, plasma samples from baseline and weeks 2, 3, and 8 have been analyzed for immune markers by RayBiotech Life Inc. using quantitative multiplex ELISA array. Markers reflecting Th1, Th2, Th17 pathways and B-cells, natural killer cells and cytotoxic T-lymphocytes increased in 7/8 patients. Principal component analysis demonstrates correlative marker groupings with early dominance of Th1/Th17 (weeks 1 and 2) followed by Th2/immunoglobulins at week 8. These findings show that these patient-specific dendritic cell vaccines are inducing pro-inflammatory responses similar to what was observed in a previous trial in melanoma. The study is progressing efficiently. Full enrollment data may be available for presentation at the time of the annual meeting.

Aim: Metastatic melanoma patients were treated with patient-specific vaccines consisting of autologous dendritic cells loaded with antigens from irradiated cells from short-term autologous tumor cell lines. Patients & methods: A total of 72 patients were enrolled in a single-arm Phase I/II (NCT00948480) trial or a randomized Phase II (NCT00436930). Results: Toxicity was minimal. Median overall survival (OS) was 49.4 months; 5-year OS 46%. A 5-year OS was 72% for 18 recurrent stage 3 without measurable disease when treated and 53% for 30 stage 4 without measurable disease when treated. A total of 24 patients with measurable stage 4 when treated (median of four prior therapies) had an 18.5 months median OS and 46% 2-year OS. Conclusion: This dendritic cell vaccine was associated with encouraging survival in all three clinical subsets. Clinicaltrial.gov NCT00436930 and NCT00948480.

Administering dendritic cells (DC) loaded with tumor-associated antigens (TAA) ex vivo is a promising strategy for therapeutic vaccines in advanced melanoma. To date the induction of immune responses to specific TAA has been more impressive than clinical benefit because of TAA limitations, suboptimal DC and possibly immune-checkpoint inhibition. Various products, antigen-loading techniques, treatment schedules, routes of administration and adjunctive agents continue to be explored. Biologic heterogeneity suggests autologous tumor as the optimal TAA source to induce immune responses to the entire repertoire of unique patient-specific neoantigens. Many questions remain regarding the optimal preparation of DC and strategies for antigen loading. Effective DC vaccines should result in additive or synergistic effects when combined with checkpoint inhibitors.

Standard treatment of primary glioblastoma (GBM) is associated with poor survival. Adjunctive therapy with patient-specific vaccines may improve outcomes by inducing or enhancing each patient's anti-GBM immune response. A multi-institutional phase II clinical trial was designed with a primary objective of 75% survival 15 months after intent-to-treat enrollment. Key eligibility criteria were: (1) primary GBM diagnosis, (2) age < 70 years at time of tumor resection, (3) successful cell culture of GBM cells in serum-free media, (4) successful monocyte collection by leukapheresis, and (5) KPS > 70 after recovery from surgery. IL-4 and GM-CSF were used to generate dendritic cells (DC) from monocytes. DC were incubated with autologous tumor antigens (ATA) from the lysate of cultured GBM cells to produce each patient-specific DC-ATA vaccine. Each dose was admixed with GM-CSF at the time of subcutaneous injections at weeks 1, 2, 3, 8, 12, 16, 20 and 24. At the time of this analysis, cell line success rate is 61/63 (97%); monocyte collection success rate is 53/55 (96%), but 10 patients required a second apheresis. 50 of a planned 55 patients have enrolled after recovery from surgery, just prior to starting standard concurrent radiation therapy (RT) and temozolomide (TMZ), with intent-to-treat after recovery from RT/TMZ. The 50 patients include 36 men and 14 women; median age is 58 years with a range of 27 to 70. Average KPS is 82.8. MGMT methylation has been documented in 22% of patients and IDH mutation in 14%. 37 patients have started treatment and received 231 doses. 16 have completed all 8 doses, 7 received fewer than 8 doses, and 14 are currently undergoing treatment. No patient has discontinued treatment because of toxicity, but 20 patients have experienced 35 treatment-emergent serious adverse events including hospitalizations for falls and/or increased focal weakness (12 episodes), seizures (10 episodes), or severe headaches or visual changes (3 episodes). 6-month actual survival rate is 96% for the 28 patients at risk 6 months or longer from enrollment. Serologic analyses show that 12 of 16 patients (75%) had an increase in markers associated with Th1/NK, Th2/immunoglobulins, and Th2 hypersensitivity (eotaxins, IgE and IL17F) by week-3; 9 of 15 (60%) had a decrease in angiogenesis factors, growth factors, and tumor markers by week-8. On serial MRI scans, 7 of 13 patients (54%) have exhibited an increase in T2 (tumor) and flare (edema) for several weeks after starting DC-ATA, followed by a slow gradual decrease in both. This patient-specific DC-ATA immunotherapy approach is feasible, is associated with changes in serologic markers, and may be increasing intratumor inflammation that may be associated with on-target toxicity and efficacy. Longer follow up is needed before the survival objective can be assessed. [Clinicaltrials.gov NCT03400917] Citation Format: Daniella A. Bota, Christopher M. Duma, Santosh Kesari, David E. Piccioni, Renato V. LaRocca, Robert T. O'Donnell, Robert D. Aiken, Jose A. Carrillo, Candace Hsieh, Chris J. Langford, Krystal Carta, Adrienne M. Wang, James A. Langford, Thomas H. Taylor, Gabriel I. Nistor, Robert O. Dillman. Adjunctive treatment of primary glioblastoma with patient-specific dendritic cell vaccines pulsed with antigens from self-renewing autologous tumor cells: A phase II trial [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research 2020; 2020 Apr 27-28 and Jun 22-24. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(16 Suppl):Abstract nr CT182.

Standard treatment of primary ovarian epithelial cancer has improved, but 5-year survival is only about 40% for the cohort of patients who present with stage 3 or 4 disease. Adjunctive therapy with patient-specific vaccines may improve outcomes by enhancing each patient's anti-cancer immune response. A multi-institutional, double- blinded randomized phase II clinical trial was designed with a primary objective of a 50% reduction in the risk of death compared to the control arm. Key eligibility criteria are: (1) primary diagnosis of stage 3 or 4 ovary epithelial cancer, (2) successful cell culture of ovarian cancer cells, (3) successful monocyte collection by leukapheresis, and (4) ECOG of 0 or 1 at the time of randomization. After completing primary systemic therapy, patients are stratified based on whether they have any residual evidence of disease and then randomized 2:1 to vaccine or control arms. Randomization occurs about 7 months after initial surgery. In the active arm IL-4 and GM-CSF are used to differentiate monocytes into dendritic cells (DC) which are incubated with the lysate of cultured ovary cancer cells as the source of autologous tumor antigens (ATA) to produce each patient-specific DC-ATA vaccine. Patients in the control arm receive cryopreserved autologous monocytes from their leukapheresis product. Each dose is admixed with 500 mcg GM-CSF at the time of subcutaneous injections at weeks 1, 2, 3, 8, 12, 16, 20 and 24. DC-ATA may be given alone or in combination with maintenance or salvage therapies. At the time of this analysis, cell line success rate is 35/35 (100%); monocyte collection success rate is 19/20 (95%), and 2 patients required a second apheresis to get a satisfactory product. 14 patients had primary ovarian, 2 fallopian tube, and 1 primary intraperitoneal cancer. 17 of a planned 99 have been randomized. At diagnosis 15 patients had stage 3 disease and two had stage 4; 15 had no evidence of disease at the time of randomization. Primary systemic therapy was adjuvant for 7 and neoadjuvant for 10. Ages of the randomized patients range from 39 to 80 years with a median of 61 years. ECOG status was 0 for 11 subjects, and 1 for 6 subjects. 13 patients have started treatment and received 92 injections; 9 have received all 8 doses and only 2 have stopped before 8 doses. No patient has discontinued treatment because of toxicity, but 1 patient was hospitalized after the 8th dose for refractory urticaria that resolved after high-dose corticosteroids followed by slow tapering. This patient-specific DC-ATA immunotherapy approach is feasible in patients with primary advanced ovarian cancer. The clinical trial is continuing as planned. [Clinicaltrials.gov NCT02033616] Citation Format: Lisa N. Abaid, Bradley R. Corr, James R. Mason, Richard L. Friedman, Ramez N. Eskander, Candace Hsieh, Chris J. Langford, Krystal Carta, Adrienne M. Wang, James A. Langford, Gabriel I. Nistor, Robert O. Dillman. Patient-specific dendritic cell vaccines with tumor antigens from self-renewing autologous tumor cells in the treatment of primary advanced ovarian cancer: A multi-institutional phase II clinical trial [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research 2020; 2020 Apr 27-28 and Jun 22-24. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(16 Suppl):Abstract nr CT189.

NASA’s Entry, Descent and Landing Architecture Study uses a trajectory simulation framework to evaluate various technologies and concepts of operations for human scale EDL at Mars. The study results inform agency technology investments. This paper summarizes the design assumptions and analysis of two deployable entry concepts performed in Phase 2 of the study. The entry concepts include a rigid deployable called the Adaptable Deployable Entry Placement Technology and an inflatable concept called the Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator. This paper describes the concept operations of these vehicles to deliver a 20-metric ton payload to the surface of Mars. Details of vehicle design and flight performance are summarized along with results of analysis on the aft body heating and its effect on the payload. Finally, recommended technology investments based on the results are presented.

“Technical and methodological advances will permit reliable manufacturing of such patientspecific cell products for testing in randomized clinical trials for potential commercial application.”

In patients with metastatic melanoma, sequential single-arm and randomized phase II trials with a therapeutic vaccine consisting of autologous dendritic cells (DCs) loaded with antigens from self-renewing, proliferating, irradiated autologous tumor cells (DC-TC) showed superior survival compared with similar patients immunized with irradiated tumor cells (TC). We wished to determine whether this difference was evident in cohorts who at the time of treatment had (1) no evidence of disease (NED) or (2) had detectable disease. Eligibility criteria and treatment schedules were the same for all three trials. Pooled data confirmed that overall survival (OS) was longer in 72 patients treated with DC-TC compared with 71 patients treated with TC (median OS 60 versus 22 months; 5-year OS 51% versus 32%, p=0.004). Treatment with DC-TC was associated with longer OS in both cohorts. Among 70 patients who were NED at the time that treatment was started, OS was better for DC-TC: 5-year OS 73% versus 43% (p=0.015). Among 73 patients who had detectable metastases, OS was better for DC-TC: median 38.8 months versus 14.7 months, 5-year OS 33% versus 20% (p=0.025). This approach is promising as an adjunct to other therapies in patients who have had metastatic melanoma.

Background and Objectives Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is often associated with chronic hepatitis due to hepatitis-B or -C viruses. Active specific immunotherapy (ASI) with autologous dendritic cells (DC) presenting antigens from autologous tumor stem cell (TC) lines is associated with promising long-term survival in metastatic cancer, but hepatitis patients were excluded. ASI might benefit high-risk primary HCC patients following surgical resection, but first it is important to show that ASI does not exacerbate hepatitis. Methods Previously untreated HCC patients with a solitary lesion > 5 cm, or three lesions with at least one > 3 cm, or more than three lesions, underwent surgical resection from which autologous TC lines were established. Irradiated TC were incubated with autologous DC to create DC-TC. After one course of trans-arterial chemoembolization therapy (TACE), three weekly subcutaneous injections of DC-TC suspended in granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor were administered. Patients were monitored for eight weeks. Results HCC cell lines were established within five weeks for 15/15 patients. Eight patients, all with chronic hepatitis B, were treated. There was no increase in hepatic transaminases, hepatitis B antigens, or viral DNA. Conclusion Autologous DC-TC did not exacerbate HBV in these HCC patients. A phase II efficacy trial is being planned. J. Surg. Oncol. 2015 111:862–867. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

(2015). Patient-Specific Therapeutic Vaccines for Metastatic Melanoma. Oncology Issues: Vol. 30, No. 2, pp. 48-57.

Background National data demonstrate minimal improvement in survival for patients diagnosed with lung cancer despite a number of apparent advances during the past 3 decades. We wished to know how demographic characteristics, staging, therapy, and survival have changed over time for patients with lung cancer who were accessioned to the cancer registry of a large community hospital in southern California. Patients and Methods Clinical features and survival data were collected on patients diagnosed during each of the successive 6-year eras of 1986 to 1991 (n = 812), 1992 to 1997 (n = 1072), 1998 to 2003 (n = 1209), and 2004 to 2009 (n = 1365). Results Median survival improved from 11 to 13 to 16 to 26 months and overall 5-year survival steadily improved from 16.5% to 19.1% to 24.0% to 31.1%. The proportion of patients with localized disease at diagnosis increased from 18.4% to 24.1% to 24.9% to 31.6%. Improvements in relative survival were much greater than have occurred nationally. Other obvious trends over time were increasing age of patients, increasing proportions with diagnoses of adenocarcinoma with concomitant decreases in squamous cell and small cell histologies, and decreases in the proportion of large cell carcinoma with reciprocal increases in neuroendocrine diagnoses. The use of chemotherapy for patients with local disease tripled in the most recent era. Conclusion Survival has steadily improved for patients in this community who were diagnosed with lung cancer. The explanations for this improvement are multifactorial, but include earlier stage at diagnosis, decreases in histologic types associated with active smoking, and increased use of systemic therapies.