IDH1-mutant vaccine in newly diagnosed astrocytoma: final analysis of the multicenter, single-arm, open-label, first-in-human phase 1 NOA16 trial

Abstract The clonal glioma driver mutation IDH1 R132H gives rise to a major histocompatibility class II-restricted neoepitope. A multicenter, first-in-human phase 1 trial met its prespecified primary endpoints by demonstrating safety and immunogenicity of an IDH1-R132H peptide vaccine (IDH1-vac) integrated into standard of care in 33 participants with newly diagnosed grade III and IV (World Health Organization classification 2007) IDH1-R132H + astrocytomas (NOA16). Here we report on the clinical and immunological long-term follow-up of this trial as secondary and translational endpoints. The 8-year progression-free and overall survival (OS) rates were 0.42 (confidence interval (CI): 0.24–0.59) and 0.66 (CI: 0.46–0.79), respectively. For participants with grade IV astrocytoma, median OS was 106.1 months (CI: 39.6–not estimable (NE)), comparing favorably to the published median OS in this population ranging from 31.6–56.4 months. Within the responder group, sustained antibody responses to IDH1-R132H were associated with a favorable long-term clinical course. IDH1-vac-induced T cell responses were detected in the inflamed brain lesion of an IDH1-vac-associated pseudoprogression, whereas no IDH1-vac-induced T cells were found in participants with early progressive disease. The favorable long-term outcome of the NOA16 cohort supports investigating IDH1-vac in persons with newly diagnosed grade 3 and 4 (World Health Organization classification 2021) IDH -mutant astrocytomas in a randomized phase 2 trial (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02454634 ).