Fig. 6
Therapeutic approach. Mice received repetitive local applications of cell line derived vaccines A7450 T1 M1 and 328, respectively (10 mg/kg bw, s.c., n = 8 mice/group). Control mice were left untreated (n = 7 mice). Combined chemo-vaccination was done by adding gemcitabine (100 mg/kg bw; Mlh1−/− A7450 T1 M1: n = 6 and 328: n = 3 mice). a Kaplan–Meier survival curve analysis. *p < 0.05 328 + chemo vs. control; **p < 0.01 A7450 T1 M1 vs. control; *p < 0.05 A7450 T1 M1 vs. 328; Log-rank (Mantel–Cox) Test. b Mean tumor size determined by 18F-FDG PET/CT. In vivo imaging was done before and during vaccination. Tumors sizes were quantified using the inveon software. The symbols were standardized between day 0 and day 28, and each symbol is representative of one mouse (average tumor size in given resulting from the detected number of tumors/mouse). c Flow cytometry of splenic leukocytes. Phenotyping was done on splenocytes from control (n = 5) and vaccinated mice receiving monotherapy (328 and A7450 T1 M1, 3–5 mice/group) or combinations with gemcitabine (n = 3–5 mice/group). * p < 0.05; one-way ANOVA (Dunnett’s multiple comparison). d IFNγ ELISpot. Reactivity of splenocytes against MLH1−/− target cells as assessed at the experimental endpoint. The number of IFNγ secreting cells/5 × 104 effector cells was determined after overnight co-incubation and quantification on an ELISpot reader as described in material and methods. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; one-way ANOVA (Bonferroni multiple comparison)