Immunotherapy targeting brain tumor stem cell antigen and niche

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24659657
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Cerebral neurosurgery
• Research Institution: Keio University
• Principal Investigator: TODA Masahiro 慶應義塾大学, 医学部, 准教授 (20217508)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): UEDA Ryo 慶應義塾大学, 医学部, 共同研究員 (30317143)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 腫瘍幹細胞 / 免疫療法 / 微小環境

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this study, we demonstrated that glioma cells and brain tumor stem cells (BTSCs) expressed highly VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor) and VEGFR (vascular endothelial growth factor receptor) in vitro. Furthermore, VEGFR was shown to express highly within malignant glioma tissues compared with surrounding brain tissue. In a clinical study, we performed a novel immunotherapy using VEGFR1/VEGFR2 peptides in 8 patients with recurrent malignant glioma and analyzed the cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) specific to VEGFR1/VEGFR2.　After the vaccination with VEGFR1/VEGFR2, CTLs specific to VEGFR1 were induced in 6 out of 6 patients analyzed and CTLs specific to VEGFR2 in 2 out of 6 patients. These results suggest that an immunotherapy using VEGFR1/2 peptides to inhibit the VEGF/VEGFR signal may be effective for the treatment of malignant glioma.

Free Research Field

脳神経外科