EFFECTIVITY OF LONG ANTIGEN EXPOSITION DENDRITIC CELL THERAPY (LANEX-DC®) IN THE PALLIATIVE TREATMENT OF PANCREATIC CANCER
Frank Gansauge
Center for oncologic,
endocrine and minimal-invasive surgery,
Silcherstr. 36, 89231 Neu-Ulm,
Germany
Abstract:
Pancreatic cancer is one of the most fatal human cancers. Despite new palliative treatment protocols using combinations of Erlotinib with Capecitabine or Gemcitabine, median survival times range around 6,6 to 6,9 months. Here we retrospectively analyzed the outcome of immunotherapy in the additional palliative treatment of pancreatic cancer with long antigen exposition dendritic cell therapy (LANEX-DC®) in 138 patients who were treated at our institution (intent-to- treat-analysis). Data were available of 134 patients (97,1%). 124/134
patients (92,5%) received also palliative chemotherapy, in the majority Gemcitabine monotherapy. 10 patients refused conventional chemotherapy (7,5%). The mean interval
between first diagnosis and start of treatment was 2,4 months (0,1 – 24,3 months). The therapy was well tolerated and no serious side effects were observed. The survival rate after 6
months was 72,2 % and afters 9 month 50,4%. After 12 months 30,0 % of the patients and after 18 months 14,4 % of the patients were still alive. The median survival time according to
Kaplan- Meier regression analysis was 8,9 months. Patients who started LANEX-DC® treatment within 2 months following diagnosis lived significantly longer than patients who
underwent LANEX-DC® treatment later than 2 months following diagnosis (10,4 months versus 7,6 months, p = 0,029). Furthermore median survival was significantly higher in the
group of patients who repeated immunotherapy (p=0,027).Interestingly, younger patients <=60 years of age (median survival: 10,3 months) lived significantly longer as patients > 60
years of age (median survival: 8,0 months) (p = 0,022). In conclusion we were able to demonstrate in a large retrospective cohort analysis that additional treatment with dendritic
cells (LANEX-DC®) is highly effective and extends the median survival times up to 8,9 months. Furthermore we were able to demonstrate that median survival can be increased by
early beginning and repetition of LANEX-DC® treatment.
