Vaccine strategy reduces risk of renal cell cancer progression

Adjuvant treatment with an autologous renal tumor cell vaccine reduces the risk of tumor progression after radical nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma, according to a report published in the February 21st issue of The Lancet.

Based on the optimistic findings of an earlier pilot study, Dr. Dieter Jocham, from the University of Lubeck in Germany, and colleagues assessed the effects of a renal tumor cell vaccine in a phase III, randomized trial. In this study, 558 patients scheduled for radical nephrectomy were randomized to receive adjuvant vaccine therapy or no adjuvant therapy for several weeks postoperatively. Postoperative inclusion criteria included a disease stage of pT2-3b, pN0-3, M0. The patients were evaluated every 6 months for at least 4.5 years.The 70-month progression-free survival rate in the vaccine group was 72%, significantly higher than the 59.3% rate seen in the comparison group.In general, the vaccine was well tolerated, the researchers state. Moreover, vaccine-related adverse events were mild to moderate in severity and only observed in two patients. “According to our results, application of an autologous renal tumor cell vaccine can be considered in patients undergoing radical nephrectomy due to organ-confined renal-cell carcinoma of more than 2.5 cm in diameter,” the investigators conclude.(Source: Lancet 2004;363:594-599: Reuters Health: February 19, 2004: Oncolink)