Tumoral and Immunologic Response After Vaccination of Melanoma Patients With an ALVAC Virus Encoding MAGE Antigens Recognized by T Cells

Purpose To evaluate the toxicity, antitumoral effectiveness, and immunogenicity of repeated vaccinations with ALVAC miniMAGE-1/3, a recombinant canarypox virus containing a minigene encoding antigenic peptides MAGE-3168-176 and MAGE-1161-169, which are presented by HLA-A1 and B35 on tumor cells and can be recognized by cytolytic T lymphocytes (CTLs). Materials and Methods The vaccination schedule comprised four sequential injections of the recombinant virus, followed by three booster vaccinations with the MAGE-3168-176 and MAGE-1161-169 peptides. The vaccines were administered, both intradermally and subcutaneously, at 3-week intervals. Results Forty patients with advanced cancer were treated, including 37 melanoma patients. The vaccines were generally well tolerated with moderate adverse events, consisting mainly of transient inflammatory reactions at the virus injection sites. Among the 30 melanoma patients assessable for tumor response, a partial response was observed in one patient, and disease stabil...