UCSF study links autoantibodies to response of melanoma patients to a dendritic cell vaccine in trial
Analysis of samples from a dendritic cell vaccine trial (NCT01622933) found de novo autoantibodies after vaccination, most often in patients with a favorable outcome, the authors report.
A team from the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, the University of California San Francisco and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center analysed autoantibody profiles in patients with melanoma who received a dendritic cell-based vaccine. The results were published on 4 November 2026 in Nature Communications; the corresponding author is Lisa H. Butterfield. nature.com
Nature Communicationsnature.comOpen source ↗ The patients came from a vaccine trial registered as NCT01622933, and profiles were assessed before and after vaccination.
Autoantibody profiling by PhIP-seq and REAP
The authors applied two assays: phage immunoprecipitation sequencing (PhIP-seq) and Rapid Extracellular Antigen Profiling (REAP). Compared with healthy donors, patients with melanoma showed significantly elevated breadth and titer of autoantibodies.
Vaccination induced de novo autoantibodies, particularly those associated with a favorable clinical outcome. The vaccine expresses multiple tumor-associated antigens. Increased B cell receptor signaling pathways in patients correlated with a favorable clinical response to it.
Cytokines, monocytes and biomarker signatures
Development of autoantibodies was associated with reduced serum levels of SDF1-alpha, MIP-1ß and MCP1 and with increased circulating monocytes. nature.com
Nature Communicationsnature.comOpen source ↗
From plasma autoantibody profiles, the authors identified signatures that separate patients with melanoma from healthy subjects. They also identified signatures that separate clinical responders from non-responders to the vaccination treatment.
According to the authors, these findings demonstrate the potential of autoantibodies as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers that predict clinical outcomes in cancer. The first author of the paper is Paul V. Munson; co-authors include Juraj Adamik, Yile Dai, Marshall A. Thompson, Christine N. Spencer, Caleigh Mandel-Brehm and Aaron M. Ring.
