Significant clinical response of progressive recurrent ovarian clear cell carcinoma to glypican-3-derived peptide vaccine therapy

Carcinoembryonic antigen glypican-3 (GPC3) is expressed by>40% of ovarian clear cell carcinoma (CCC) and is a promising immunotherapeutic target. We previously reported the safety of and immunological and clinical responses to a GPC3-derived peptide vaccine in a phase I clinical trial of patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Although the efficacy of the GPC3-derived peptide vaccine against HCC patients was evaluated, other GPC3-positive cancer patients have not yet been investigated. Therefore, we conducted a phase II trial to evaluate the clinical outcome of ovarian CCC patients treated with a GPC3-derived peptide vaccine. The GPC3 peptide was administered at a dose of 3 mg per body. Patients received an intradermal injection of the GPC3 peptide emulsified with incomplete Freund's adjuvant. Vaccinations were performed biweekly from the first until the 6th injection and were then repeated at 6-week intervals after the 7th injection. Treatment continued until disease progression. We herein present two patients with chemotherapy-refractory ovarian CCC who achieved a significant clinical response in an ongoing trial of a GPC3 peptide vaccine. Case 1, a 42-year-old patient with advanced recurrent ovarian CCC with liver and retroperitoneal lymph node metastases, received the HLA-A24-restricted GPC3 peptide vaccine. Contrast-enhanced CT at week 10 revealed a partial response (PR) using RECIST criteria. Case 2 was a 67-year-old female with multiple lymph node metastases. She was injected with the HLA-A2-restricted GPC3 peptide vaccine. According to RECIST, PR was achieved at week 37. The stabilization of their diseases over one year provided us with the first clinical evidence to demonstrate that GPC3 peptide-based immunotherapy may significantly prolong the overall survival of patients with refractory ovarian CCC.