The use of poly-ICLC in combination with a dendritic cell-based immunotherapy vaccine shows promise as a treatment for patients with deadly brain cancer.
Researchers at the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have identified a combination immunotherapy that boosts the immune response in patients with malignant gliomas, an aggressive and challenging-to-treat type of brain tumor.
The study, published in clinical trial to test this combination in patients with recurrent glioblastoma, which is supported by the UCLA Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) in Brain Cancer.
“This research is a step forward in the quest for more effective immunotherapy for gliomas, along with developing a potential blood-based test to determine if the patient’s immune system is responding to the vaccine in a way that will help in the fight against this devastating form of brain cancer,” said Dr. Richard Everson, assistant professor of neurosurgery and co-first author of the study.
Reference: “TLR agonists polarize interferon responses in conjunction with dendritic cell vaccination in malignant glioma: a randomized phase II Trial” by Richard G. Everson, Willy Hugo, Lu Sun, Joseph Antonios, Alexander Lee, Lizhong Ding, Melissa Bu, Sarah Khattab, Carolina Chavez, Emma Billingslea-Yoon, Andres Salazar, Benjamin M. Ellingson, Timothy F. Cloughesy, Linda M. Liau and Robert M. Prins, 8 May 2024, Nature Communications.
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-48073-y
This study was funded in part by a grant from the National Cancer Institute.