Clinical Trial of a Cancer Vaccine Targeting VEGF and KIF20A in Advanced Biliary Tract Cancer

Abstract

Background: As the prognosis of biliary tract cancer (BTC) is extremely poor and treatment options are limited, new treatment modalities are urgently needed. We designed a phase II clinical trial to investigate the immune responses and clinical benefits of OCV-C01, an HLA-A*24:02-restricted three-peptide cancer vaccine targeting VEGFR1, VEGFR2, and KIF20A.

Patients and methods: Participants were patients with advanced BTC who had unresectable tumours and were refractory to standard chemotherapy. OCV-C01 was injected weekly until the discontinuance criteria were met.

Results: Six participants, including four patients positive for HLA-A*24:02, were enrolled in this study for assessment of efficacy. Four out of six patients exhibited vaccine-specific T-cell responses to one or more of three antigens. Log-rank tests revealed that vaccine-specific T cell responses contributed significantly to overall survival.

Conclusion: The cancer vaccine had positive effects on survival, indicating that this approach warrants further clinical studies.

Keywords: KIF20A; Translational research; VEGF; biliary tract cancer; cancer vaccine.