| Budget Amount *help |
¥3,500,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,500,000)
Fiscal Year 2004: ¥1,700,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,700,000)
Fiscal Year 2003: ¥1,800,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,800,000)
|
|---|
| Research Abstract |
Metastatic prostate cancer is primarily treated by hormonal therapy. However, all such treated patients eventually develop disease refractory to androgen suppression as manifested by increasing senrum prostate-specific antigen(PSA) levels, progressive disease on radiographic imaging, and ultimately, symptomatic deterioration. Although, the median survival duration of patients with hormone-refractory prostate cancer(HRPC) has been considerably prolonged, the improvement is unsatisfactory. Therefore, novel therapeutic agents for the treatment of HRPC are required.
Recent advances in tumor immunology have resulted in identification of a number of antigens and their peptides recognized by tumor-reactive and human leukocyte antigen(HLA) class I-restricted cytotoxic T lymphocytes(CTLs). Anti-tumor vaccines have emerged as a promising therapeutic approach, whereas, their clinical responses have been limited. In order to develop new treatment modality for HRPC patients, we recently devised a new regime of peptide-based vaccination ; the measurement of pre-existing peptide-specific CTL precursors reactive to many kinds of vaccine candidates, followed by administration of only CTL-reactive peptides(individualized peptide vaccination). In addition, we recently reported a benefit of the combination of this type of peptide vaccination and a low dose (280 mg/day) of estramustine phosphate in patients with metastatic HRPC who had received the prior vaccination.
|
