CMLVAX trial

[Guest guest]

Hi Group-- I travel to Houston for vaccine no. 4 in the trial cited

below. So far, no real side-effects. Everything is going just

swimmingly. An interesting note-- I've noticed a reduction in the

" Gleevec fog " I've been experiencing so long.

Leukemia Vaccine Looks Promising

Vaccine Boosts Body's Attack on Cancer Cells

By Jeanie Lerche

WebMD Medical News Reviewed By Brunilda Nazario, MD

on Thursday, February 17, 2005

Feb. 17, 2005 - An experimental vaccine could provide a new treatment

for people with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), a new study shows.

Not only does the vaccine boost the body's immune system to fight

leukemia, but it also helps get rid of the underlying cause of the

leukemia. Currently, this can only be done with a bone marrow transplant.

This could help lead to a cure for CML, which affects about 4,500

Americans each year.

In chronic myeloid leukemia, overproduction of an abnormal protein

leads to very high numbers of cancerous white blood cells.

Current treatment, such as Gleevec, targets this abnormal protein.

Although Gleevec normally gets rid of any detectable cancer cells, the

cancer-causing protein still remains.

And that's what researcher Bocchia, MD, a hematologist with

Siena University in Siena, Italy, wanted to address. Her study appears

in this week's issue of The Lancet.

The researchers tested the use of a cancer vaccine to help trigger the

body's immune system to recognize and attack cells with the CML protein.

Cancer vaccines are not vaccines in the way that most people think of

vaccines. Unlike most vaccines, which help prevent diseases, cancer

vaccines are added to treatment in someone who already has cancer.

In her study, she and her colleagues recruited 16 patients with

chronic myeloid leukemia. All had received treatment with either 12

months of Gleevec or 24 months of interferon alpha, another CML

treatment. The patients' disease was stable.

Each was given six injections two weeks apart. The vaccine actually

contained the abnormal protein itself. This stimulates the immune

system to launch an attack against cancerous cells containing the

abnormal protein.

Nine Gleevec-treated patients showed progressive reduction of their

remaining disease. Five patients went into complete remission; three

had no evidence that the CML protein was still lurking. All but one of

the six interferon-alpha-treated patients had a good response; two

went into complete remission.

The researchers say the vaccine was effective at stimulating an immune

system attack against the cancer cells with the abnormal protein.

They say adding the vaccine to current CML treatment may help get rid

of remaining cancer cells.

In addition, the vaccine was able to get rid of the cancer-causing

protein -- a sign that the CML has been cured.

The vaccine is experimental and not yet available to the public.

SOURCES: Bocchia, M. The Lancet, Feb. 19, 2005: vol. 365, pp. 657-662.