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Manoutcharian K, Gevorkian G. Are we getting closer to a successful neoantigen cancer vaccine? Mol Aspects Med 2024; 96:101254. [PMID: 38354548 DOI: 10.1016/j.mam.2024.101254] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2023] [Revised: 02/02/2024] [Accepted: 02/06/2024] [Indexed: 02/16/2024]
Abstract
Although significant advances in immunotherapy have revolutionized the treatment of many cancer types over the past decade, the field of vaccine therapy, an important component of cancer immunotherapy, despite decades-long intense efforts, is still transmitting signals of promises and awaiting strong data on efficacy to proceed with regulatory approval. The field of cancer vaccines faces standard challenges, such as tumor-induced immunosuppression, immune response in inhibitory tumor microenvironment (TME), intratumor heterogeneity (ITH), permanently evolving cancer mutational landscape leading to neoantigens, and less known obstacles: neoantigen gain/loss upon immunotherapy, the timing and speed of appearance of neoantigens and responding T cell clonotypes and possible involvement of immune interference/heterologous immunity, in the complex interplay between evolving tumor epitopes and the immune system. In this review, we discuss some key issues related to challenges hampering the development of cancer vaccines, along with the current approaches focusing on neoantigens. We summarize currently well-known ideas/rationales, thus revealing the need for alternative vaccine approaches. Such a discussion should stimulate vaccine researchers to apply out-of-box, unconventional thinking in search of new avenues to deal with critical, often yet unaddressed challenges on the road to a new generation of therapeutics and vaccines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karen Manoutcharian
- Instituto de Investigaciones Biomedicas, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM), CDMX, Apartado Postal 70228, Cuidad Universitaria, Mexico DF, CP, 04510, Mexico.
| | - Goar Gevorkian
- Instituto de Investigaciones Biomedicas, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM), CDMX, Apartado Postal 70228, Cuidad Universitaria, Mexico DF, CP, 04510, Mexico.
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Ponomarev AV, Shubina IZ, Sokolova ZA, Baryshnikova MA, Kosorukov VS. Transplantable Murine Tumors in the Studies of Peptide Antitumor Vaccines. Oncol Rev 2024; 17:12189. [PMID: 38260723 PMCID: PMC10800450 DOI: 10.3389/or.2023.12189] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2023] [Accepted: 12/22/2023] [Indexed: 01/24/2024] Open
Abstract
Numerous studies have shown that antitumor vaccines based on synthetic peptides are safe and can induce both CD8+ and CD4+ tumor-specific T cell responses. However, clinical results are still scarce, and such approach to antitumor treatment has not gained a wide implication, yet. Recently, particular advances have been achieved due to tumor sequencing and the search for immunogenic neoantigens caused by mutations. One of the most important issues for peptide vaccines, along with the choice of optimal adjuvants and vaccination regimens, is the search for effective target antigens. Extensive studies of peptide vaccines, including those on murine models, are required to reveal the effective vaccine constructs. The review presents transplantable murine tumors with the detected peptides that showed antitumor efficacy as a vaccine compound.
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Burton JH, Johnston SA, Vail DM, Eickhoff JC, Sykes KF, Brown JR, Shen L, Gervassi A, Page RL, Willcox JL, Al-Nadaf S, Willis AL, Biggs D, Ralston J, Mok I, Kurzman ID, Huelsmeyer MK, Hayim R, Smith BM, Thamm DH. Design of a randomized, placebo-controlled study evaluating efficacy and safety of a cancer preventative vaccine in dogs. Vet Immunol Immunopathol 2024; 267:110691. [PMID: 38056066 DOI: 10.1016/j.vetimm.2023.110691] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2023] [Revised: 11/06/2023] [Accepted: 11/24/2023] [Indexed: 12/08/2023]
Abstract
Preventative anti-cancer vaccination strategies have long been hampered by the challenge of targeting the diverse array of potential tumor antigens, with successes to date limited to cancers with viral etiologies. Identification and vaccination against frameshift neoantigens conserved across multiple species and tumor histologies is a potential cancer preventative strategy currently being investigated. Companion dogs spontaneously develop cancers at a similar incidence to those in people and are a complementary comparative patient population for the development of novel anti-cancer therapeutics. In addition to an intact immune system with tumors that arise in an autochthonous tumor microenvironment, dogs also have a shorter lifespan and temporally compressed tumor natural history as compared to humans, which allows for more rapid evaluation of safety, immunogenicity, and efficacy of cancer vaccination strategies. Here we describe the study protocol for the Vaccination Against Canine Cancer Study (VACCS), the largest interventional cancer clinical trial conducted in companion dogs to date. In addition to safety and immunogenicity, the primary endpoint of VACCS is the cumulative incidence (CI) of dogs developing malignant neoplasia of any type at the end of the study period. Secondary endpoints include changes in incidence of specific tumor types, survival times following neoplasia diagnosis, and all-cause mortality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jenna H Burton
- Flint Animal Cancer Center, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, 300 W. Drake Road, Fort Collins, CO 80523, United States
| | - Stephen Albert Johnston
- Calviri, Inc., Phoenix Bioscience Core, 850 North 5th Street, Phoenix, AZ 85004, United States; Center for Innovations in Medicine, Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University, 727 E. Tyler Street, Tempe, AZ 85281, United States
| | - David M Vail
- Carbone Cancer Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 600 Highland Ave, Madison, WI 53705, United States; Department of Medical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2015 Linden Drive, Madison, WI 53706, United States
| | - Jens C Eickhoff
- Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 610 Walnut Street, Madison, WI 53726, United States
| | - Kathryn F Sykes
- Calviri, Inc., Phoenix Bioscience Core, 850 North 5th Street, Phoenix, AZ 85004, United States
| | - Justin R Brown
- Calviri, Inc., Phoenix Bioscience Core, 850 North 5th Street, Phoenix, AZ 85004, United States
| | - Luhui Shen
- Calviri, Inc., Phoenix Bioscience Core, 850 North 5th Street, Phoenix, AZ 85004, United States
| | - Ana Gervassi
- Calviri, Inc., Phoenix Bioscience Core, 850 North 5th Street, Phoenix, AZ 85004, United States
| | - Rodney L Page
- Flint Animal Cancer Center, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, 300 W. Drake Road, Fort Collins, CO 80523, United States
| | - Jennifer L Willcox
- Department of Surgical and Radiological Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, United States
| | - Sami Al-Nadaf
- Department of Surgical and Radiological Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, United States
| | - Amanda L Willis
- Flint Animal Cancer Center, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, 300 W. Drake Road, Fort Collins, CO 80523, United States
| | - Danielle Biggs
- Flint Animal Cancer Center, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, 300 W. Drake Road, Fort Collins, CO 80523, United States
| | - Jessica Ralston
- Flint Animal Cancer Center, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, 300 W. Drake Road, Fort Collins, CO 80523, United States
| | - Irene Mok
- Flint Animal Cancer Center, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, 300 W. Drake Road, Fort Collins, CO 80523, United States
| | - Ilene D Kurzman
- Department of Medical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2015 Linden Drive, Madison, WI 53706, United States
| | - Michael K Huelsmeyer
- Department of Medical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2015 Linden Drive, Madison, WI 53706, United States
| | - Rubi Hayim
- Department of Medical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2015 Linden Drive, Madison, WI 53706, United States
| | - Brittany M Smith
- Veterinary Center for Clinical Trials, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, United States
| | - Douglas H Thamm
- Flint Animal Cancer Center, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, 300 W. Drake Road, Fort Collins, CO 80523, United States.
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Shen L, Brown JR, Johnston SA, Altan M, Sykes KF. Predicting response and toxicity to immune checkpoint inhibitors in lung cancer using antibodies to frameshift neoantigens. J Transl Med 2023; 21:338. [PMID: 37217961 DOI: 10.1186/s12967-023-04172-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2023] [Accepted: 04/30/2023] [Indexed: 05/24/2023] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE To evaluate a new class of blood-based biomarkers, anti-frameshift peptide antibodies, for predicting both tumor responses and adverse immune events to immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapies in advanced lung cancer patients. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN Serum samples were obtained from 74 lung cancer patients prior to palliative PD-(L)1 therapies with subsequently recorded tumor responses and immune adverse events (irAEs). Pretreatment samples were assayed on microarrays of frameshift peptides (FSPs), representing ~ 375,000 variant peptides that tumor cells can be informatically predicted to produce from translated mRNA processing errors. Serum-antibodies specifically recognizing these ligands were measured. Binding activities preferentially associated with best-response and adverse-event outcomes were determined. These antibody bound FSPs were used in iterative resampling analyses to develop predictive models of tumor response and immune toxicity. RESULTS Lung cancer serum samples were classified based on predictive models of ICI treatment outcomes. Disease progression was predicted pretreatment with ~ 98% accuracy in the full cohort of all response categories, though ~ 30% of the samples were indeterminate. This model was built with a heterogeneous sample cohort from patients that (i) would show either clear response or stable outcomes, (ii) would be administered either single or combination therapies and (iii) were diagnosed with different lung cancer subtypes. Removing the stable disease, combination therapy or SCLC groups from model building increased the proportion of samples classified while performance remained high. Informatic analyses showed that several of the FSPs in the all-response model mapped to translations of variant mRNAs from the same genes. In the predictive model for treatment toxicities, binding to irAE-associated FSPs provided 90% accuracy pretreatment, with no indeterminates. Several of the classifying FSPs displayed sequence similarity to self-proteins. CONCLUSIONS Anti-FSP antibodies may serve as biomarkers for predicting ICI outcomes when tested against ligands corresponding to mRNA-error derived FSPs. Model performances suggest this approach might provide a single test to predict treatment response to ICI and identify patients at high risk for immunotherapy toxicities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luhui Shen
- Calviri, Inc, 850 N 5th St., Phoenix, AZ, 85004, USA
| | | | | | - Mehmet Altan
- MD Anderson Cancer Center, Department of Thoracic-Head & Neck Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
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Shen L, Zhao ZG, Lainson JC, Brown JR, Sykes KF, Johnston SA, Diehnelt CW. Production of high-complexity frameshift neoantigen peptide microarrays. RSC Adv 2020; 10:29675-29681. [PMID: 35518269 PMCID: PMC9056171 DOI: 10.1039/d0ra05267a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2020] [Accepted: 08/02/2020] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Parallel measurement of large numbers of antigen-antibody interactions are increasingly enabled by peptide microarray technologies. Our group has developed an in situ synthesized peptide microarray of >400 000 frameshift neoantigens using mask-based photolithographic peptide synthesis, to profile patient specific neoantigen reactive antibodies in a single assay. The system produces 208 replicate mircoarrays per wafer and is capable of producing multiple wafers per synthetic lot to routinely synthesize over 300 million peptides simultaneously. In this report, we demonstrate the feasibility of the system for detecting peripheral-blood antibody binding to frameshift neoantigens across multiple synthetic lots.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luhui Shen
- Center for Innovations in Medicine, Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University Tempe AZ USA
| | - Zhan-Gong Zhao
- Center for Innovations in Medicine, Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University Tempe AZ USA
| | - John C Lainson
- Center for Innovations in Medicine, Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University Tempe AZ USA
| | | | | | - Stephen Albert Johnston
- Center for Innovations in Medicine, Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University Tempe AZ USA .,Calviri, Inc. Tempe AZ USA
| | - Chris W Diehnelt
- Center for Innovations in Medicine, Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University Tempe AZ USA
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