New Cancer Tumor Vaccine Study is Seeking Volunteers: a Step in Finding a Cure
February 9th, 2009
2009 FEB 9 -- A research team at Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles is accepting new patients into a study to find a vaccine for breast cancer and other cancers. The study's aim is to develop a new, less toxic approach to treating breast cancer than mainstream methods available currently. The researchers led by Charles Wiseman, M.D., FACP, oncologist at Good Samaritan Hospital will test Stage IV breast cancer patients with vaccine injections containing laboratory-prepared tumor cells designed to help support an immune response to cancerous cells without affecting the healthy ones.
Scientists believe vaccines stimulate the body's own immune system and help the patient's body recognize and destroy targeted tumor cells responsible for the disease. "The program is part of our search for a different way to treat advanced cancers resistant to other methods of treatment," says Dr. Wiseman. "Based on lessons from our previous research, the new clinical trial will better evaluate the effect of the injected vaccine cells by employing a more lengthy series of injections in a larger number of patients."
Breast cancer will strike 180,000 American women in 2009 and over 40,000 will die from the disease. According to the National Cancer Institute, about 2.5 million breast cancer survivors currently live in the United States, including women still undergoing treatment and those who have completed treatment. Breast cancer is the second leading cause of death in women behind heart disease.
During each cycle, patients will receive four inoculations closely followed by interferon injections, a commonly used immune booster. The vaccine itself is made from tumor cells modified to release granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF), a natural substance produced by the human body to aid the immune system during infection or inflammation. When released from the injected vaccine cells, GM-CSF could help strengthen important immune responses and possibly shrink the growing tumor.
The vaccine was developed from cancer cells that were grown and tested in Dr. Wiseman's laboratory. The tumor cells were genetically engineered to release extra GM-CSF. The vaccine provides a special tumor cell target that might bring out helpful anti-tumor immune responses, while providing extra GM-CSF to further magnify any responses. Each vaccine is prepared immediately before use and treated with special high-energy x-rays to prevent any further cell growth.
"Our initial results were published in the September 2006 issue of The Breast Journal, describing a patient who showed shrinkage of multiple tumors in the breast along with regression of metastatic breast cancer in the lung. When the patient relapsed several months after stopping the vaccine, retreatment again caused shrinkage of many areas of tumor, including several in the brain. Although the patient was not cured, we wish to expand upon those findings, hopefully to aid patients now and in the future," Dr. Wiseman adds.
The vaccine program is not for prevention of breast cancer. It is a research study, approved only for persons with advanced, resistant breast cancer, or certain other cancers. While some vaccine programs allow only patients with the HER2 marker, a growth factor receptor found in approximately 30 percent of breast cancers, this study includes almost all kinds of breast cancer patients, including those cases that are HER2 positive or negative. Patients with other forms of cancer may also qualify if the HER2 marker is present, such as cancer of the lung, pancreas, prostate, bladder and ovary. Patients will receive the vaccine at no cost and there is no special participation fee. However, charges will be submitted for doctor's visits, tests, imaging and other customary services.
For information about eligibility to participate in this trial, please call 213-483-8464 to speak to a research coordinator or visit one of the following websites: www.goodsam.org or www.wisemanresearch.com. Information is also available from the National Cancer Institute, 1-800-4-CANCER (1-800-422-6237 (refer to WRI-GEV-007).
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About Good Samaritan Hospital
First opened in 1885, Good Samaritan Hospital is a 408-bed tertiary care facility offering some of the most comprehensive care in Los Angeles. Specializing in cardiac services, women's services, orthopedics, oncology, and ophthalmology, Good Samaritan Hospital offers Cardiology and Cardiothoracic Surgery, Neurosciences program featuring the Gamma Knife radiosurgery, Oncology Program, Kidney Stone services, and Transfusion-Free Medicine and Surgery Center. For more information, visit www.goodsam.org.
About Charles Wiseman, M.D., F.A.C.P.
Dr. Wiseman is a nationally renowned cancer researcher with a private oncology practice whose groundbreaking work in immunotherapy vaccines has led to impressive results in the treatment for advanced cancer of breast, lung, melanoma, brain, and other tumors. Dr Wiseman received his medical degree from the UCLA School of Medicine and a B.S. in Chemistry from UCLA (Phi Beta Kappa.). He has conducted extensive cancer research studies on chemotherapy, tumor immunology and genetics at a number of leading institutions, including the University of Texas' M.D. Anderson Hospital, where he served as Director of the Breast Cancer Basic Research Laboratory and helped pioneer treatments for breast cancer that are considered the standard of care today. He is the author of more than 100 published papers and medical textbook chapters.
Drawing patients from around the globe, he was elected by his peers for inclusion in Best Doctors in America® from 2001-2008, has been named in Los Angeles Magazine's list of "Best Doctors" and as one of the "Top-Rated Doctors in America's Largest Metropolitan Areas" by the Center for the Study of Services - Consumer Checkbook. For more information, visit www.wisemanresearch.com.
Keywords: Anticancer Therapy, Biotechnology, Breast Cancer, Breast Carcinoma, Cancer Vaccines, Clinical Trial Research, Gene Therapy, Genetics, Heart Disease, Immunization, Inflammation, Interferon, Oncology, Treatment, Women's Health.
This article was prepared by Biotech Business Week editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2009, Biotech Business Week via NewsRx.com.
