Figure 2. Effect of the FAP-based DNA vaccine on tumor growth.

(A and B) Prophylactic setting. Ten days after the last of 3 vaccinations at 1-week intervals, performed as described in Methods, BALB/c mice (n = 8) were challenged s.c. with a lethal dose of 3 × 10⁴ CT26 cells (A) or orthotopically with a lethal dose of 3 × 10⁵ D2F2 cells (B). The mean ± SEM of tumor growth of 8 mice is depicted. P < 0.01. (C) Therapeutic setting. BALB/c mice (n = 8) were first injected i.v. with 10⁵ CT26 cells and then vaccinated after 3 and 10 days once pulmonary metastases were established. After 18 days, lungs were weighed (left panel, mean + SEM), examined for metastases, and scored by a visual evaluation (right panel) assessing the percentage of lung surface covered by fused metastases as follows: 0 = 0%, 1 = <20%, 2 = 20–50%, 3 = >50%. *P < 0.01.