Potential Survival Benefit of Anti-Apoptosis Protein: Survivin-Derived Peptide Vaccine with and without Interferon Alpha Therapy for Patients with Advanced or Recurrent Urothelial Cancer-Results from Phase I Clinical Trials

We previously identified a human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-A24-restricted antigenic peptide, survivin-2B80-88, a member of the inhibitor of apoptosis protein family, recognized by CD8+cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL). In a phase I clinical trial of survivin-2B80-88 vaccination for metastatic urothelial cancer (MUC), we achieved clinical and immunological responses with safety. Moreover, our previous study indicated that interferon alpha (IFN alpha) enhanced the effects of the vaccine for colorectal cancer. Therefore, we started a new phase I clinical trial of survivin-2B80-88 vaccination with IFN alpha for MUC patients. Twenty-one patients were enrolled and no severe adverse event was observed. HLA-A24/survivin-2B80-88 tetramer analysis and ELISPOT assay revealed a significant increase in the frequency of the peptide-specific CTLs after vaccination in nine patients. Six patients had stable disease. The effects of IFN alpha on the vaccination were unclear for MUC. Throughout two trials, 30 MUO patients received survivin-2B80-88 vaccination. Patients receiving the vaccination had significantly better overall survival than a comparable control group of MUO patients without vaccination (P = 0.0009). Survivin-2B80-88 vaccination may be a promising therapy for selected patients with MUC refractory to standard chemotherapy. This trial was registered with UMIN00005859.