This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: theoncologist.2009-0017v1 14/9/909    most recent eLetters: Submit a response to this article Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services E-mail this article link to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints/Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Gridelli, C. Articles by Sacco, P. C. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Gridelli, C. Articles by Sacco, P. C.

Lung Cancer

Vaccines for the Treatment of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: A Renewed Anticancer Strategy

^aDivision of Medical Oncology and ^bDirezione Sanitaria, "S.G. Moscati" Hospital, Avellino, Italy; ^cDivision of Medical Oncology, Second University of Naples, Naples, Italy

Key Words. Vaccine therapy • NSCLC • MAGE-A3 • L-BLP25

Correspondence: Cesare Gridelli, M.D., Division of Medical Oncology, "S.G. Moscati" Hospital, Contrada Amoretta, Città Ospedaliera, 83100 Avellino, Italy. Telephone: 39-0825-203573; Fax: 39-0825-203556; e-mail: cgridelli{at}libero.it

Received January 28, 2009; accepted for publication August 1, 2009; first published online in THE ONCOLOGIST Express on September 2, 2009.

Disclosures

Cesare Gridelli: Consultant/advisory role: Roche, Merck-Serono, Eli Lilly; Honoraria: Roche, Merck-Serono, Eli Lilly; Antonio Rossi: None; Paolo Maione: None; Marianna Luciana Ferrara: None; Vincenzo Castaldo: None; Paola Claudia Sacco: None.

The article discusses unlabeled, investigational, or alternative use(s) of a product, device, or technique: Stimuvax (Merck) in investigational NSCLC treatment; MAGE-A3 (GlaxoSmithKline) in investigational NSCLC treatment.

The content of this article has been reviewed by independent peer reviewers to ensure that it is balanced, objective, and free from commercial bias. No financial relationships relevant to the content of this article have been disclosed by the independent peer reviewers.

Carcinoma of the lung is the leading cause of cancer death worldwide, with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) constituting about 85% of all new diagnoses. Standard approaches for each NSCLC stage have reached a plateau in effectiveness. A variety of novel approaches are now being investigated to improve the outcome of this disease. Despite decades of research, no specific active cancer vaccine has, to date, been approved for NSCLC therapy; nevertheless, vaccine therapy has recently re-emerged as a potential therapeutic approach. In particular, several new paradigms have stemmed from recent clinical findings both in the use of combination therapy approaches with more sophisticated specific vaccines and in clinical trial design and endpoint analyses. Several vaccine therapies have been investigated in NSCLC, including in the early and advanced disease stages. The best results appear to be in the adjuvant settings and in locally advanced NSCLC. In fact, in these two settings, phase III randomized trials are ongoing evaluating the melanoma-associated antigen A3 vaccine and the liposomal BLP25 vaccine. This paper reviews the main clinical trials involving several different cancer vaccines employed in the treatment of early and advanced stage NSCLC, focusing on those in advanced stages of development.