Immunotherapy for hepatocellular carcinoma: Current status and future perspectives

Table 3 Vaccination clinical trials in hepatocellular carcinoma with reported results

Vaccine	Patient inclusion criteria	Patients, n	Immune response, %	Observations	Ref.
AFP HLA-A*02 restricted peptides + IFA	AFP + tumors from (stage IV patients)	6	66	Increased CTL response	[134]
DCs pulsed with autologous tumor lysate	Unresectable HCC	8	62	Immune response generation	[152]
DCs pulsed with autologous tumor lysate	Advanced HCC	31	0	Improved survival	[138]
DCs pulsed with AFP HLA-A*02 restricted peptides	Stage IV patients with surgery chemotherapy	10	60	No clinical responses	[135]
DCs pulsed with hepatoma cell-line (HEP-G2) lysate	No other therapeutic option	35	11.4	Evidence of antitumor efficacy	[139]
Gv1001 peptide + GM-CSF + cyclophosphamide	Advanced-stage HCC with no previous antitumor treatment	37	0	The immunological response is not detected	[137]
GPC3 HLA-A*24:02 and HLA-A*02-restricted peptides + IFA	Metastatic HCC or advanced HCC	33	91	Antitumor efficacy	[148]
DCs pulsed with fused recombinant proteins (AFP, MAGE-1 and GPC-3)	Surgical resection and locoregional therapy	12	92	Improved survival	[65]
GPC3 HLA-A*24:02 and HLA-A*02-restricted peptides + IFA	Vaccines as adjuvant therapy	41	85	Improved recurrence rate	[136]
AFP HLA-A*24:02 restricted peptides + IFA	Stage B/C tumors	15	33	Increased CTL response	[154]

Clinical trials with no published results have been excluded from the review. Incomplete Freund’s Adjuvant, *immunologic response measurement was not appropriate. AFP: Alpha-fetoprotein; CTL: Cytotoxic T lymphocyte; DC: Dendritic cell; HCC: Hepatocellular carcinoma; GPC-3: Glypican-3; IFA: Incomplete Freund’s Adjuvant; MAGE: Melanoma-associated antigen.