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Pancreatic cancer vaccine halts progression of disease in some patients
April 18, 2007A dendritic cell-based therapeutic vaccine for pancreatic cancer developed by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine has successfully stalled the disease from progressing in a handful of patients three years post-vaccination. The results, part of a press briefing on cancer vaccines held at the annual meeting of the American Association of Cancer Research in Los Angeles, provide promising evidence that the vaccine can trigger a patient's own immune system to rally against pancreatic cancer and offer new insights into how the vaccine could be made even more effective. The study is abstract number 4896 in the meeting proceedings.
"Pancreatic cancer is extremely resistant to chemotherapy and radiation and, as a result, has a very high mortality rate," said Andrew Lepisto, Ph.D., first author of the study and post-doctoral researcher, department of immunology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. "One strategy to improve the odds of survival is to help the immune system recognize the presence of pancreatic cancer cells and attack them. Our study, although small, demonstrates that this strategy can be used with some success in pancreatic cancer patients by slowing down, or even stopping, the progression of cancer."
The Pitt team created a therapeutic vaccine for pancreatic cancer made up of a synthetic version of MUC1 - a tumor-associated protein that is expressed by pancreatic tumor cells - combined with the patient's own dendritic cells, which act as the quarterbacks of the immune system by coordinating its attack against foreign invaders.
The current study, the fourth in a series of MUC1 vaccine trials at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, included 12 patients with pancreatic cancer who received the vaccine by injection once every three weeks for a total of three doses and were given a booster dose six months later. Four patients demonstrated a stable and continuous presence of antibodies against MUC1 and have no evidence of disease more than three years after the vaccination was completed and close to five years after diagnosis and surgery.
The research team also examined the specific immune response to the vaccine by sampling the blood of the patients involved in the study. They found that all the patients had an active immune response to the vaccine. They also learned the number of suppressor T cells, a special type of T cell that stifles the activation of the immune system, increased following each vaccine injection, potentially limiting the greater efficacy of the vaccine.
"As we move forward in this research, we will be looking at ways to improve the vaccine by preventing the activation of suppressor T cells," said Dr. Lepisto. "One way to do this is to use additional therapies that specifically target these cells in combination with the vaccine."
Pancreatic cancer is one of the most difficult cancers to treat because it is undetectable by a physical exam, asymptomatic and progresses quickly. Most patients die within six months of diagnosis. These factors limit the amount of data available for research, hindering significant advances in the understanding and treatment of the disease.
University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences
The current study, the fourth in a series of MUC1 vaccine trials at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, included 12 patients with pancreatic cancer who received the vaccine by injection once every three weeks for a total of three doses and were given a booster dose six months later. Four patients demonstrated a stable and continuous presence of antibodies against MUC1 and have no evidence of disease more than three years after the vaccination was completed and close to five years after diagnosis and surgery.
The research team also examined the specific immune response to the vaccine by sampling the blood of the patients involved in the study. They found that all the patients had an active immune response to the vaccine. They also learned the number of suppressor T cells, a special type of T cell that stifles the activation of the immune system, increased following each vaccine injection, potentially limiting the greater efficacy of the vaccine.
"As we move forward in this research, we will be looking at ways to improve the vaccine by preventing the activation of suppressor T cells," said Dr. Lepisto. "One way to do this is to use additional therapies that specifically target these cells in combination with the vaccine."
Pancreatic cancer is one of the most difficult cancers to treat because it is undetectable by a physical exam, asymptomatic and progresses quickly. Most patients die within six months of diagnosis. These factors limit the amount of data available for research, hindering significant advances in the understanding and treatment of the disease.
University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences
Pancreatic Cancer Current Events and Pancreatic Cancer News RSSRare pancreatic cancer patients may live longer when treated with radiation therapy
Radiation therapy is effective in achieving local control and palliation in patients with pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PNTs), despite such tumors being commonly considered resistant to radiation therapy.
African-Americans with colorectal cancer have poorer outcomes, lower survival rates
New research published in the November issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons shows that African-American patients with colorectal cancer are more likely to be diagnosed with advanced disease and are less likely to undergo surgical procedures compared with Caucasians, suggesting that improvements in screening and rates of operation may reduce differences in colorectal cancer outcomes for African-Americans.
Discovery offers potential new pancreatic cancer treatment
Tiny particles that can carry drugs and target cancer cells may offer treatment hope for those suffering with pancreatic cancer. New research to be presented in November at the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) Annual Meeting in Los Angeles reveals that tumor-penetrating microparticles (TPM) have been specifically designed to break through hard-to-infiltrate barriers and deliver drugs more effectively and efficiently than the standard form of chemotherapy such as those injected through a vein.
Hepatitis B does not increase risk for pancreatic cancer
A Henry Ford Hospital study found that hepatitis B does not increase the risk for pancreatic cancer - and that only age is a contributing factor.
M. D. Anderson examines use of toad venom in cancer treatment
Huachansu, a Chinese medicine that comes from the dried venom secreted by the skin glands of toads, has tolerable toxicity levels, even at doses eight times those normally administered, and may slow disease progression in some cancer patients, say researchers from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.
Pancreatic cancer: Researchers find drug that reverses resistance to chemotherapy
For the first time researchers have shown that by inhibiting the action of an enzyme called TAK-1, it is possible to make pancreatic cancer cells sensitive to chemotherapy, opening the way for the development of a new drug to treat the disease.
Endothelin-1 inhibitors in chronic pancreatitis
Fibrosis is a key feature of chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer. The extensive deposition of extracellular matrix proteins fosters the development of an exocrine and endocrine organ insufficiency, and accelerates progression of the tumour.
Autoimmune response can induce pancreatic tumor rejection
Immune responses are capable of killing tumors before they can be directed toward normal body tissue, according to new scientific findings published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
MicroRNAs circulating in blood show promise as biomarkers to detect pancreatic cancer
A blood test for small molecules abnormally expressed in pancreatic cancer may be a promising route to early detection of the disease.
Blood-flow metabolism mismatch predicts pancreatic tumor aggressiveness
Researchers from Turku, Finland, have identified a blood-flow glucose consumption mismatch that predicted pancreatic tumor aggressiveness, according to results of a study published in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
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