Journal of Immunobiology

Individualized Multimodal Immunotherapy for DIPG: Part of the Game?

Abstract

Stefaan W. van Gool*, Jennifer Makalowski, Tobias Sprenger, Volker Schirrmacher and Wilfried Stuecker

In 2020 a study, entitled, Addition of multimodal immunotherapy to combination treatment strategies for children with Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma: A single institution experience was published in Medicines. The text reports the final analysis of 41 children treated with Individualized Multimodal Immunotherapy (IMI) as part of their (combined) treatment schedule. All these children came upon individual request or were referred by the physician to the Immune Oncologic Centre in Köln (www.iozk.de). Since May 2015, the IOZK has the official approval to produce under GMP conditions (DE_NW_04_GMP_2015_0030 and DE_NW_04_GMP_2020_0054) autologous Dendritic Cells (DCs) loaded with autologous tumor antigens and matured in the presence of IL-1b, IL-6 and TNF-a together with GMP-produced Newcastle Disease Virus (NDV). This Advanced Therapy Medicinal Product (ATMP), registered as IO-Vac®, is approved as medicinal product and as experimental medicinal product for use in human (DE_NW-04-MIA-2015-0033 and DE-NW-04-MIA-2020-0017). IO-Vac® is the drug used for active specific immunotherapy. IOZK is a private non-profit organization and delivers, besides 1) IO-Vac® DC vaccines, also 2) Immunogenic Cell Death (ICD) therapies with the Oncolytic Virus (OV) Newcastle Disease Virus (NDV) and modulated electro hyperthermia ,eventually inserted in chemotherapy regimens; 3) passive immunotherapy with antibodies, 4) modulatory immunotherapy with antibodies and/or low dose metronomic chemotherapy regimens and/or total body hyperthermia (brain lesions belong to exclusion criteria for this technology) and 5) finally a whole set of complementary medicinal strategies to improve immune reactivity.