Immunological Responses to the Tumor-Associated Antigen CA15 in Patients with Advanced Ovarian Cancer Induced by the Murine Monoclonal Anti-idiotype Vaccine ACA125

We have generated an immunoglobulin G₁ (IgG₁) murine monoclonal anti-idiotype antibody (Ab2) designated ACA125, which mimics a specific epitope on the tumor-associated antigen CA125. This antigen is expressed by most of malignant ovarian tumors. Patients with CA125-positive tumors are immunologically tolerant to CA125. We used ACA125 as a surrogate for the tumor-associated antigen CA125 for vaccine therapy of 16 patients with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer or recurrences. Each of the patients received a minimum of 3 injections up to 19 injections of the complete anti-idiotype MAb ACA125 at a dosage of 2 mg per injection. Nine of 16 patients developed anti-anti-idiotypic (Ab3) responses to the ACA125. All 9 patients generated specific anti-CA125 antibody demonstrated by reactivity with purified CA125. Nine of 16 patients developed a CA125-specific cellular immune response by their peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) and 3 of 16 showed an increase in γ-interferon concentrations accompanied by Ab3 responses. Toxicity was limited to abdominal pain in one case, which led to the withdrawal of further immunizations. The median progression free survival in those patients, who showed a specific immune response to the tumor-associated antigen CA125, was 11.0 ± 5.6 months without any other therapy, in contrast to 8.0 ± 4.2 months in the anti-anti-idiotype negative group. This is the first report of the induction of a specific active immunity to the tumor-associated antigen CA125 in patients with advanced ovarian cancer treated with an anti-idiotype antibody that "mimics" CA125. Patients showed the development of a specific humoral and cellular immune reponse to an otherwise nonimmunogenic tumor antigen. The immune responses in patients treated with this anti-idiotype vaccine, the low rate of side effects, and the improved time to progression after the induction of a specific immune response against the tumor-associated antigen CA125 justify follow-up clinical trials in advanced ovarian cancer patients with minimal residual disease in an adjuvant approach.