Novel Adjuvants for Peptide-Based Melanoma Vaccines

In the Phase I/II trial, patients with resected stages III and IV melanoma who have been rendered free of disease, but are at high risk of relapse, are treated with peptides/IFA at a dose of 0.5 mg each peptide plus CTLA-4 antibody given intravenously, 3 mg/kg, after each vaccination. In the Phase II randomized study, patients are treated with the melanoma peptide vaccine alone, with CTLA-4 antibody, or with CTLA-4 antibody combined with IL-12 at 30 ng/kg with alum. The peptides are tyrosinase 368-376 (370D); gp100 209-217 (210M); and MART-1 26-35 (27L) which are emulsified with IFA. The dosing schedule for both trials are at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 months; then at 9 and 12 for a total of 8 vaccinations.