Vaccine development in UK

[Guest guest]

<Sorry if this is a repeat>

Southampton Scientists Begin Patient Trials Of New Leukaemia Cancer Vaccine

01 Feb 2011

A new cancer treatment which strengthens a patient's immune system and enables

them to fight the disease more effectively is being trialled on patients for the

first time in the UK.

The treatment will use a new DNA vaccine, developed by scientists from the

University of Southampton, which will treat a selected group of volunteers who

have either chronic or acute myeloid leukaemia - two forms of bone marrow and

blood cancer.

Scientists believe they can control the disease by vaccinating patients against

a cancer-associated gene (Wilm's Tumour gene 1), found 'expressed' in almost all

chronic and acute leukaemias.

A team of researchers and health practitioners, led by Professor Christian

Ottensmeier of the University of Southampton Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre

and Dr Katy Rezvani of Imperial College London and Imperial College Healthcare

NHS Trust, hope to recruit up to 180 patients to the trial which will take place

at hospitals in Southampton, London and Exeter over the next two years.

The research is funded by the charity Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research and the

Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation (EME) programme, which is financed by the

Medical Research Council (MRC) and managed by the National Institute for Health

Research (NIHR).

" In chronic myeloid leukaemia, current treatment can reduce the cancer but the

drug needs to be taken indefinitely and has unpleasant side effects. Prognosis

of acute myeloid leukaemia is currently poor and better treatments are urgently

needed, " comments Christian Ottensmeier, professor of experimental cancer

medicine at the University of Southampton and consultant oncologist at

Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust.

" We have already demonstrated that this new type of DNA vaccine is safe and can

successfully activate the immune systems in patients with cancer of the

prostate, bowel and lung. We believe it will prove to be beneficial to patients

with acute and chronic myeloid leukaemia. "

Dr Katy Rezvani, clinical senior lecturer at Imperial College London and

consultant haematologist at Imperial College Healthcare, says: " At Hammersmith

Hospital we have been using targeted leukaemia drug therapies, like tyrosine

kinase inhibitors, for over 10 years. While these drugs are the first line

therapy for chronic myeloid leukaemia patients, they can rarely 'cure' the

condition. This new vaccine has the potential to improve the outcome of

leukaemia treatments and could serve as a method of managing solid tumours. "

Professor Freda son, an immunologist at the University of Southampton who

is also working on the study, adds: " I'm very pleased with the results from the

laboratory research, and am optimistic the vaccine will be successful in making

a real difference to patients with myeloid leukaemia. "

In the study, each participant will receive six doses of DNA vaccine over a six

month period, with further booster vaccinations if successful. The vaccine will

be administered in a groundbreaking new way, using electroporation, in which

controlled, rapid electrical pulses create permeability in cell membranes and

enable increased uptake of biological material after its injection into muscle

or skin tissue. The electroporation system was developed by the US

pharmaceutical company Inovio.

Inovio's CEO Dr J ph Kim, says: " This study expands Inovio's long-standing

relationship with the University of Southampton into an important disease area.

We are proud that Inovio will make a significant contribution to this Phase II

trial for these cancers with clear unmet medical needs. "

The DNA vaccine was developed at the University with funding from Leukaemia &

Lymphoma Research and Cancer Research UK.

Dr Grant, Scientific Director of Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research, adds: " We

are delighted to see this trial in leukaemia go ahead. It is an important step

for us to see the laboratory work on DNA vaccines that the charity has supported

take the next logical step into clinical testing. The trial has undergone

extensive international peer review and we are very excited to see the first

patients being treated. We believe that this vaccine has real promise to improve

outcomes in patients with leukaemia. "

The success of the vaccines will be measured over a two year survival period for

acute myeloid leukaemia and by assessing the immune system's response to the

drug using a disease marker (BCR-ABL) for chronic myeloid leukaemia.

Sources: Southampton University, AlphaGalileo Foundation.