The effects of mycobacteria in prostate cancer have not been fully elucidated. Results of early studies indicated that mycobacterial immunotherapy conferred a survival benefit in patients with advanced prostate cancer, and recent evidence supports the safety and efficacy of new mycobacterial agents in many malignancies; thus, modern, carefully designed, randomized controlled trials of mycobacterial immunotherapy for prostate cancer could be warranted.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals
Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription
$29.99 / 30 days
cancel any time
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$209.00 per year
only $17.42 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Boettcher, A. N. et al. Past, current, and future of immunotherapies for prostate cancer. Front. Oncol. https://doi.org/10.3389/fonc.2019.00884 (2019).
Abida, W. et al. Analysis of the prevalence of microsatellite instability in prostate cancer and response to immune checkpoint blockade. JAMA Oncol. 5, 471–478 (2018).
Bazzi, S. et al. Analysis of the immunomodulatory properties of two heat-killed mycobacterial preparations in a human whole blood model. Immunobiology 220, 1293–1304 (2015).
Patel, P. M. et al. An evaluation of a preparation of Mycobacterium vaccae (SRL172) as an immunotherapeutic agent in renal cancer. Eur. J. Cancer 44, 216–223 (2008).
Stanford, J. L. et al. Successful immunotherapy with Mycobacterium vaccae in the treatment of adenocarcinoma of the lung. Eur. J. Cancer 44, 224–227 (2008).
Dalgleish, A. G. et al. Randomised, open-label, phase II study of gemcitabine with and without IMM-101 for advanced pancreatic cancer. Br. J. Cancer 115, 789–796 (2016).
Guinan, P. et al. Adjuvant immunotherapy with bacillus Calmette-Guérin in prostatic cancer. Urology 14, 561–565 (1979).
Hrouda, D. et al. Immunotherapy of advanced prostate cancer: a phase I/II trial using Mycobacterium vaccae (SRL172). Br. J. Urol. 82, 568–573 (1998).
Gray, A. et al. Prostate cancer immunotherapy yields superior long-term survival in TRAMP mice when administered at an early stage of carcinogenesis prior to the establishment of tumor-associated immunosuppression at later stages. Vaccine 27, G52–G59 (2009).
Moore, C. M. et al. The effect of dutasteride on magnetic resonance imaging defined prostate cancer: mapped — a randomized, placebo controlled, double-blind clinical trial. J. Urol. 197, 1006–1013 (2017).
Acknowledgements
The authors thank the Institute for Cancer Vaccines and Immunotherapy (project code 517932, award number 164271) for support. V.S. is supported by a Medical Research Council (MRC) Clinical Research Training Fellowship (MR/S005897/1), a European Association for Cancer Research Travel Fellowship and a University College London Bogue Fellowship. C.M.M. receives funding from Movember, Prostate Cancer UK, the National Institute for Health Research, the European Association of Urology Research Foundation and the MRC.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Stavrinides, V., Dalgleish, A., Copier, J.P. et al. Mycobacterial immunotherapy for prostate cancer: where can we go from here?. Nat Rev Urol 17, 189–190 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41585-020-0283-2
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41585-020-0283-2