cancer-stem-cells-2019-scientifictracks

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Cancer Stem Cells 2019

Journal of Medical Oncology andTherapeutics | Volume 4

July 18-19, 2019 | Valencia, Spain

OF EXCELLENCE

IN INTERNATIONAL

MEETINGS

YEARS

CANCER STEM CELLS AND

ONCOLOGY RESEARCH

International Conference on

CLINICAL EXPERIENCE IN ADVANCED CANCERWITH DENDRITIC CELLS LOADEDWITH

AUTOLOGOUS STEM CELL ANTIGENS

Robert O Dillman

AIVITA Biomedical Inc., USA

umor initiating cells, including cancer stem cells and their early progenitors are a desirable target for cancer

therapy but hard to target with chemotherapy and radiation therapy and hard to target with tumor-spec-

ificity using targeted therapies. Immunologic vaccines directed to tumor stem cells have shown promise in

animal models. Our approach has been to utilize autologous tumor antigens (ATA) derived from short-term

cell lines. Such cells have phenotypic markers shared with stem cells, produce tumors of the parental histology

in animals and contain many non-synonymous mutations that may encode for neo-antigens. Author’s early

work focused on irradiated tumor cells as a tumor cell vaccine (TCV) and was associated with a 29% 5-year

survival rate in patients with metastatic melanoma. Then they turned to autologous dendritic cells (DC) load-

ed with ATA from irradiated tumor cells (DC-ATA). 5-year survival rates of 33% were observed in patients with

metastatic renal cell cancer and 50% in patients with metastatic melanoma. Next a randomized trial confirmed

the superiority of the DC-ATA approach compared to TCV in metastatic melanoma with more than a doubling

of median survival from 20 to 43, and a 70% reduction in the risk of death. Toxicity was minimal in all of these

studies. A major limitation of these trials was that it typically took three to four months to establish successful

cell lines, and only about 50% of tumor samples resulted in cell lines; in contrast, DCs were reliably derived from

peripheral blood mononuclear cells. More recently they converted to using serum free media to encourage tu-

mor-spheres that favor tumor stem cells and establish short-term cell lines in four weeks. So far this approach

has been associated with greater than 90% success in various tumor types including glioblastoma, ovarian

cancer, melanoma, hepatocellular cancer, sarcoma and squamous cell cancers of the neck and vulva. At the

time of treatment, DC-ATA are suspended in granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor and injected

subcutaneously weekly for three weeks, then monthly at weeks 8, 12, 16, 20 and 24. DC-ATA. Multi-institutional

phase II trials are in progress: A double-blind randomized phase II trial in patients with a primary diagnosis of

stage 3 or 4 ovarian cancer and a single-arm phase II trial in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma that

can be at least partly resected surgically. Trials are also in development for patients with metastatic melanoma

and locally advanced hepatocellular cancer.

Robert O Dillman, J Med Oncl Ther 2019, Volume 4

Robert O Dillman is Chief Medical Officer of AIVITA Biomedical. Earlier he served as Vice President of Oncology at Caladriu’s Biosci-

ences Inc. (formerly Neostem Inc.), a leading development and manufacturing partner to the cell therapy industry. From May 2014

to January 6, 2016 he also served as Member of Caladriu’s Melanoma Scientific Advisory Board. He has served as the Executive

Medical Director of the Hoag Hospital Institute for Research and Education, in Newport Beach, California, a position he has held

since 2011.

BIOGRAPHY