CML vaccine in trials at s Hopkins

[Guest guest]

Release Date: 01/05/2010

JOHNS HOPKINS RESEARCHERS SAY VACCINE APPEARS TO “MOP UP” LEUKEMIA CELLS GLEEVEC

LEAVES BEHIND

s Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center researchers say preliminary studies show that

a vaccine made with leukemia cells may be able to reduce or eliminate the last

remaining cancer cells in some chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients taking

the drug Imatinib mesylate (Gleevec).

Gleevec, one of the first targeted cancer therapies with wide success in CML

patients, destroys most leukemic cells in the body, but in most patients, some

cancerous cells remain and are measurable with sensitive molecular tests. These

remaining cells are a source of relapse, according to the investigators,

especially if Gleevec therapy is stopped.

In a pilot study published in Clinical Cancer Research, the s Hopkins

investigators used a vaccine made from CML cells irradiated to halt their

cancerous potential and genetically altered to produce an immune system

stimulator called GM-CSF. The treated cells also carry molecules, called

antigens, specific to CML cells, which prime the immune system to recognize and

kill circulating CML cells.

The study vaccine was given to 19 CML patients with measurable cancer cells,

despite taking Gleevec for at least one year. A series of 10 skin injections

were given every three weeks for a total of four times. After a median of 72

months of follow-up, the number of remaining cancer cells declined in 13

patients, 12 of whom reached their lowest levels of residual cancer cells. In

seven patients, CML became completely undetectable.

http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Early_Tests_Show_Vaccine_Appe\

ars_to_Mop_Up_Leukemia_Cells

FYI,

Lottie Duthu