Vakzination mit dendritischen Zellen im Vergleich zu DTIC – Ergebnisse einer Phase-III-Studie

Background: Progress in the treatment of patients with metastatic melanoma has been very limited over the last two decades. Vaccination with autologous dendritic cells (DC) was reported as being able to induce tumor regressions in early clinical phase I/II studies. Methods: Patients with advanced metastatic melanoma, HLA-A1, -A2, -A3, -A24 or -B44 positivity, no brain or bone metastases and no prior systemic chemotherapy were randomised to receive either chemotherapy with dacarbazine (DTIC) 850mg/m2 i.v. in 4-week intervals (arm A) or autologous peptide-pulsed DC in 2-week intervals for the first 5 vaccinations…