Dendritic Cell Vaccination to Prevent Hepatocellular Carcinoma Recurrence After Liver Resection - Phase II Clinical Trial

July 22, 2026 updated by: Wei-Chen Lee, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary liver tumor. Surgical resection remains the first choice for early-stage HCC because the result is superior to other treatments and not limited to liver donation. However, liver resection is criticized because the tumor recurrence rate is more than 50% in 5 years although the tumors are completely resected. In our large-scale study including 1639 patients with liver resection for HCC, the 1-, 3-, and 5-year disease-free survival were 73.7%, 58.3% and 53.3%, respectively. Currently, there are no effective treatments used as adjuvant therapy to prevent HCC recurrence. Dendritic cells (DCs) are the most potent professional antigen-presenting cells, and can capture tumor antigens to provoke antigen-specific cytotoxic T-cells. DCs pulsed with tumor-associated antigens can be used to conduct tumor-specific immunotherapy. Thereafter, DCs pulsed with HCC tumor antigens may be used as an adjuvant therapy to prevent HCC recurrence.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Active, not recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
74

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Taiwan
    • Taoyuan
      • Taiyuan, Taoyuan, Taiwan, 333
        • Chang Gung Medical Foundation

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • The patients have curative liver resection for primary or recurrent HCCs which are diagnosed by pathological figures, and the risk nomogram scores of tumor recurrence are $\ge 101$ [Hepatitis, score 57; platelet $< 100\times10^3$, score 72; multiple tumors, score 69; cirrhosis, score 62; microvascular invasion, score 100; total tumor volume $> 43.3\text{cm}^3$, score 90].
  • Age ≧20 years old and sign informed consent.
  • BCLC stage A-C
  • Child-Pugh sore ≤ 6
  • Percentage of lymphocytes in peripheral blood ≧12%.
  • Performance status ECOG ≦2
  • AST and ALT ≦ 5x upper limit of normal.
  • Platelet ≥ 80000/mm3
  • WBC ≥ 3000/uL
  • RBC ≥ 2.5x106/uL
  • eGFR ≥ 30ml/min/1.73m2
  • The patients must be disease-free after liver resection, which is confirmed by dynamic CT or MRI within 14 days.
  • The participants must have early stage or intermediate stage of HCC and receive liver resections to remove the tumors completely.
  • The participants must agree to harvest and preserve tumor specimens during operation.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Subjected having other malignancies except HCC are excluded.
  • Uncontrolled or clinically significant cardiac diseases.
  • Positive for HIV.
  • Active bacterial of fungal infections.
  • Prior chemotherapy within one month.
  • Use of other investigational drugs within one month.
  • Subjects with systemic steroid treatment within 14 days.
  • Subjects in the status of immune deficiency.
  • Subjects in the status of autoimmune diseases.
  • Subjects with long-term use of immunosuppressive agents.
  • Subjects with checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapy within one month.
  • Subjects with local regional therapy within one month.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Autologous Dendritic Cell Therapy
Participants will receive a total of 3 courses of autologous dendritic cell vaccination. For each course, peripheral blood (50-60 ml) is drawn for dendritic cell culture, followed by an intravenous injection of the cultured dendritic cells.
Biological: Autologous Dendritic Cell
Biological: Immunotherapy with dendritic cells

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Disease-free survival
Time Frame: From date of surgery until the date of radiographic tumor assessment confirming tumor recurrence, assessed up to 3 years
From date of surgery until the date of radiographic tumor assessment confirming tumor recurrence, assessed up to 3 years

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Overall survival
Time Frame: From date of surgery to death from any cause, assessed up to 3 years
From date of surgery to death from any cause, assessed up to 3 years

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Chang Gung Memorial Hospital

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
July 1, 2019

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
February 1, 2028

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
February 1, 2028

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
December 18, 2023

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
January 4, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
January 5, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
July 24, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
July 22, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
July 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 202200329A0

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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