Therapeutic effect of intratumoral injections of dendritic cells for locally recurrent gastric cancer: a case report

An 80-year-old man with a history of gastric cancer and pulmonary emphysema underwent a distal gastrectomy for gastric cancer in 1997. In 2010, an endoscopic examination revealed a depressed-type lesion at the oral side of the anastomosis, which was diagnosed as signet-ring adenocarcinoma. Surgical management was considered, but was rejected because of obstructive and restrictive respiratory events. Chemotherapy was terminated because of adverse events. Endoscopy was used to administer intratumoral injections of dendritic cells (DCs) targeting synthesized peptides of Wilms tumor 1 (WT1) and mucin 1, cell-surface associated (MUC1). An immunohistochemical analysis of the tumor samples indicated positivity for WT1 and MUC1. One month after seven cycles of DC had been administered (between November 2010 and April 2011), no suspicious lesions were evident, and his biopsy results were normal. The patient has been in remission for 30 months. Intratumoral injections of DCs showed therapeutic effects in this patient, who could not undergo endoscopic submucosal dissection or surgery.