Purpose: Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) is produced by colorectalcancers and may play a role in its progression. The clinical and immunological effects of a synthetic vaccine targeting beta-hCG composed of the COOH terminal peptide of beta-hCG (CTP37) conjugated to diphtheria toxoid (DT) was investigated in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.
Experimental design: Seventy-seven patients from 12 centers were randomly divided into two vaccine dose groups. CTP37-DT was formulated in an emulsion and administered i.m. on days 0, 28, and 70. Patients were evaluated for toxicity, overall survival, and antibody response to hCG and to DT.
Results: Immunizations were well tolerated with no patients requiring cessation of the injections. Anti-hCG antibody was detected in 56 of the 77 patients treated. Significant differences in antibody response and survival were not observed between the two dose groups. An intention-to-treat analysis of all vaccinated patients showed a median survival of 34 weeks. Patients who developed anti-hCG antibody levels higher than or equal to the median value exhibited a median survival of 45 weeks compared with 24 weeks for patients who developed anti-hCG antibody levels lower than the median (P = 0.0002). In contrast, no significant difference was observed when comparing survival based upon the level of DT antibody that developed (P = 0.80).
Conclusions: Vaccination with CTP37-DT induced anti-hCG antibodies in most patients with advanced colorectal cancer. Anti-hCG antibody induction was associated with longer overall survival. CTP37-DT has an excellent safety profile and warrants further study in patients with colorectal cancer.