Immunogenicity and tolerability of personalized mRNA vaccine mRNA-4650 encoding defined neoantigens expressed by the autologous cancer.

Authors

null

Gal Cafri

National Cancer Institute Surgery Branch, Bethesda, MD

Gal Cafri , Jared J. Gartner , Kristen Hopson , Robert S. Meehan , Tal Z. Zaks , Paul Robbins , Steven A. Rosenberg

Organizations

National Cancer Institute Surgery Branch, Bethesda, MD, National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, Moderna, Cambridge, MA, Early Clinical Trials Development Program, DCTD, National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, Sanofi US, Cambridge, MA, National Cancer Institute Center for Cancer Research, Bethesda, MD

Research Funding

Other
Pharmaceutical/Biotech Company

Background: Therapeutic vaccination against cancer has proven very challenging with little clinical benefit. Vaccines against non-viral tumors have mainly targeted differentiation antigens, cancer testis antigens, and over-expressed antigens. However, negative selection in the thymus against these normal non-mutated antigens severely limits the ability to generate high avidity anti-cancer T-cells. The importance of neoantigens to each patient’s unique cancer as targets for immunotherapy has been extensively studied, by our group and others. It is now clear that neoantigen-specific T-cells are present in most cancers and these neoantigens derived from somatic mutations offer a specific and highly immunogenic target for personalized vaccination. We developed a process to identify immunogenic T-cell epitopes derived from tumor-specific mutations using tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes. Methods: We combined, for the first time, validated defined neoantigens, predicted neoepitopes and mutations in driver genes into a single mRNA concatemer (mRNA-4650) to vaccinate patients with metastatic common epithelial cancers. We are conducting a phase I/II trial in patients with metastatic melanoma, gastrointestinal, or genitourinary cancers with at least one lesion that is resectable. Patients must have an ECOG status of ≤1 with adequate organ and bone marrow function. Patients are vaccinated intramuscularly at two-week intervals for four cycles, and dosing may be repeated for a second course of vaccination. Key primary endpoints are safety, tolerability and the development of T-cell reactivity as well as objective response rate. Results: mRNA-4650 is safe at all dose levels studied to date with no reported DLTs or drug related SAEs. Neoantigen specific CD8 and CD4 T cells responses against neoepitopes included in the vaccine have been observed and no tumor regressions were seen. Conclusions: Our data show that such a personalized mRNA vaccination is feasible and can elicit neoantigen specific T cell responses. Combination of vaccines with checkpoint inhibitors or adoptive T cell therapy can open the possibility to develop effective immunotherapies for patients with the common epithelial cancers. Clinical trial information: NCT03480152

Disclaimer

This material on this page is ©2024 American Society of Clinical Oncology, all rights reserved. Licensing available upon request. For more information, please contact licensing@asco.org

Abstract Details

Meeting

2019 ASCO Annual Meeting

Session Type

Poster Session

Session Title

Developmental Immunotherapy and Tumor Immunobiology

Track

Developmental Therapeutics—Immunotherapy

Sub Track

Vaccines

Clinical Trial Registration Number

NCT03480152

Citation

J Clin Oncol 37, 2019 (suppl; abstr 2643)

DOI

10.1200/JCO.2019.37.15_suppl.2643

Abstract #

2643

Poster Bd #

287

Abstract Disclosures

Similar Abstracts

First Author: Tanner Michael Johanns

First Author: Qiuji Wu

First Author: Yang Zhang