Vaccine Impedes the Development of Reflux-induced Esophageal Cancer in a Surgical Rat Model: Efficacy of the Vaccine in a Post-Barrett’s Esophagus Setting

• DOI: 10.1007/s10620-008-0232-z
• Publication Date: 2008-03-14T17:02:46Z
• Authors: Tomoharu Miyashita; Furhawn A. Shah; Guy P. Marti; Todd D. Armstrong; Jiaai Wang; Pramod Bonde; Michael K. Gibson; Kiyoshi Yoshimura; Elizabeth A. Mont...; Mark Duncan; Elizabeth M. Jaffee; John W. Harmon
• Keywords: Esophageal Neoplasms; Ileostomy; Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor; Neoplasms, Experimental; Adenocarcinoma; Transfection; Cancer Vaccines; Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays; Rats; 3. Good health; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Barrett Esophagus; Disease Models, Animal; 03 medical and health sciences; Treatment Outcome; 0302 clinical medicine; Gastrectomy; Cell Line, Tumor; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell; Animals; Esophagostomy; Esophagitis, Peptic; Follow-Up Studies

We developed and evaluated a GM-CSF whole-cell tumor vaccine for esophageal cancer.Cell lines derived from surgically induced rat reflux esophageal tumors were passaged in vitro and transfected with GM-CSF. First, the GM-CSF whole cell vaccine was evaluated against subcutaneously transplanted esophageal tumor cells. In a subsequent study, the vaccine was tested to see if it could reduce the incidence of cancer in the surgical reflux model.While subcutaneously transplanted tumor cells produced lasting tumors in PBS non-vaccinated placebo rats, transplanted tumors regressed and were immunologically rejected in animals vaccinated prior to implantation. In the surgical reflux model, the vaccine reduced the incidence of cancer from 17/23 (74%) in the controls to 6/16 (38%) in the vaccinated animals (P = 0.046).The GM-CSF whole cell tumor vaccine effectively promoted a strong immune response against subcutaneously transplanted tumors and protected animals from developing esophageal cancer in the reflux model.