Target – HER2
A new immunotherapeutic vaccine to fight cancer has passed the first clinical trials
Yulia Vorobyova, Vesti
Scientists from the American Association for Cancer Research presented the results of trials of a new therapeutic vaccine aimed at treating several types of cancer pathology (New Cancer Vaccine Shows Early Promise for Patients with HER2-positive Cancers).
Experts explain that one of the main biomarkers of breast, ovarian, lung, and colorectal and gastroesophageal cancers (the latter two types affect the gastrointestinal tract) is a membrane protein called HER2. Its increased synthesis is associated with the growth of tumors.
Today, some anti-cancer drugs are already being used to directly inhibit (suppress the production of) HER2, but doctors believe that immunotherapy will become a more effective method of treatment.
The idea is to create an immunotherapeutic agent that uses the HER2 protein as a biomarker to direct the defenses of the body's immune system to fight cancer cells.
According to the researchers, such therapy can reduce the risk of side effects that often occur with traditional chemotherapy.
The developed vaccine is "customized" in a specific way for each individual patient, providing personalized treatment. To do this, you need to take cells, modify them and inject them back into the body.
Dendritic cells are isolated from the patient's blood sample, stimulating the immune response. These cells are modified so that they can "see" the HER2 protein. Then they are injected into the patient by intradermal injection (between the layers of skin). Once in the body, these cells must "tune" the immune response so that the defenses attack the tumor expressing the HER2 protein.
Preclinical studies have shown that this type of vaccine can destroy already overgrown tumors, as well as metastases in the lungs of mice.
In the first phase of clinical trials, patients with various types of metastatic cancer were given the vaccine at 0, 4, 8, 16 and 24 weeks of treatment.
No changes were observed among the six volunteers who received a low dose of the vaccine (5 million dendritic cells per injection). But among the eleven patients who received more serious treatment (10 or 20 million dendritic cells per injection), six patients showed improvements.
Thus, one of the participants with ovarian cancer had a complete immune response that lasted 89 weeks. In another patient with gastroesophageal cancer, doctors observed a partial response that lasted 16 weeks.
"Our results show that we have a very promising vaccine for HER2-overexpressing cancers. Based on current safety data and clinical benefits, the vaccine dose has been increased to 40 million dendritic cells per injection," says Jay Berzofsky from the US National Institute of Oncology.
According to him, the first phase of clinical trials confirmed the absence of cardiotoxicity and other undesirable side effects. Patients had only minor reactions at the injection site that did not require treatment.
Trials of the new treatment method will continue. In addition, the team intends to find out how the vaccine will work together with other therapeutic methods.
The scientists presented the interim results of their work at the Fourth International Conference on Cancer Immunotherapy (Fourth CRI-CIMT-EATI-AACR International Cancer Immunotherapy Conference).
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