(MESOPEC) Adjuvant dendritic cell based immunotherapy (DCBI) after cytoreductive surgery (CRS) and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) for peritoneal mesothelioma

Project summary

Currently there is no curative treatment available for patients with peritoneal mesothelioma (‘asbest cancer’); after surgical removal, the tumor eventually recurs. Teaching the patient’s own immune system to kill tumor cells could help in preventing recurrance.
Vaccination based on immune-stimulating dendritic cells is safe, with only minimal (flu-like) side effects, and initial studies in lung mesothelioma patients are promising. In MESOPEC, we will study the added-value of such vaccination in preventing recurrence of surgically-resected peritoneal mesothelioma.
Dendritic cells derived from the patient’s own white blood cells will be loaded with proteins from a mesothelioma cell line, and the patients will receive in total 5 vaccinations using these loaded cells.