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Positive Results from Multiple Myeloma Vaccine Trial
#1
Multiple myeloma is a cancer of the blood, which involves rapid proliferation of plasma cells. Plasma cells are a type of antibody producing immune cell found in the bone marrow. Normally, plasma cells play an important role protecting the body against foreign pathogens and cancer. However, mutations in the plasma cells can cause them to replicate uncontrollably, resulting in higher than normal numbers of plasma cells. If the cancerous plasma cells enter the blood stream, they can colonize bone marrow in another part of the body. The increased number of plasma cells results in increased and nonspecific production of antibody. This may result in increased levels of protein in the blood stream, and the excessive growth of plasma cells can cause damage to many different systems in the body, including the immune system, kidneys, and bones. Multiple myeloma may not always require treatment, particularly if the patient is not experiencing any symptoms. When treatment is indicated, standard anti-cancer therapies are used to help the patient maintain a normal quality of life.

Vaxil Biotherapeutics recently announced positive results from an early phase clinical trial of a vaccine against multiple myeloma. The study involved 15 patients who received the vaccine, called ImMucin. The patients had previously been in remission, but were experiencing relapse of the cancer. The vaccine demonstrated considerable safety in all patients. Only minor inflammation was noted at the site of the injection, and this resolved naturally within a day. In addition, all patients developed strong, measurable adaptive immune responses in response to vaccination with ImMucin.

The vaccine consists of a short peptide of approximately 20 amino acids from the MUC1 protein, which is a marker found on multiple myeloma cancer cells. Patients were also co-treated with a cytokine called Granulocyte Macrophage Colony Stimulating Factor, or GM-CSF. GM-CSF helps tell innate immune cells within the body to grow, mature, and reproduce so that they are more effective at delivering the vaccine antigen and inducing cells from the adaptive immune system to begin attacking cancer cells.

The results of the clinical trial showed that all of the patients developed anti-MUC1 immune responses from both CD4+ T cells and CD8+ T cells. In addition, more than half of the patients developed a positive B cell response, as demonstrated by the presence of anti-MUC1 antibodies. CD4+ T cells are termed helper T cells, because they direct other components of the immune system to specifically attack and kill foreign invaders and cancerous cells. CD8+ T cells are termed cytolytic T cells, because they can directly kill virus infected cells and cancer cells. B cells are another type of adaptive immune cell, which produce a type of protein called antibody to help target immune cells to foreign microbes and cancer cells.

The increased activation of and production of antibody by B cells is somewhat worrisome, as the bone marrow plasma cells effected in multiple myeloma are a type of B cell. However, the fact that the antibodies produced are specific for the MUC1 protein indicates that only B cells capable of fighting the cancer were activated by the ImMucin vaccine. The press release provided by Vaxil did not state whether the levels of nonspecific antibodies or other proteins in the blood increased after vaccination. Regardless, the strong immune response was very exciting to researchers at Vaxil, as this indicated that the vaccine was immunogenic as is, and does not require any type of personalization which is being used in other cancer vaccines.

Nine of the fifteen patients enrolled in the ImMucin trial demonstrated positive clinical responses as well. This included reduced or stabilized levels of cancer biomarkers, and reduced levels of MUC1 detectable in the serum. The reduced levels of MUC1 were particularly encouraging, as it demonstrated a specific killing of MUC1 expressing cancer cells due to the effects of the vaccine. Importantly, even though researchers detected an increased level of anti-MUC1 antibodies, which are produced by plasma B cells, there was a decrease in the number of plasma cells in the bone marrow of some of the patients. The rising interest in immunotherapeutics as treatment for cancer, such as the ImMucin vaccine, is allowing researchers and clinicians to directly target and kill cancer cells, providing maximum therapeutic efficacy with reduced side effects compared to conventional cancer chemotherapy.


References:

http://in.finance.yahoo.com/news/vaxil-r...53348.html

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/multipl...ma/DS00415
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#2
I researched a few things about Vaxil Biotherapeutics and discovered that it was founded by Dr. Lior Carmon in 2006. Dr. Carmon is a biotechnology entrepreneur with a doctorate degree in immunology from Rehovot’s Weizmann Institute of Science. The company was then managed by a team of leading scientists and clinicians and is based in Weizmann Science Park, Nes-Ziona, Israel.

Knowing that Multiple Myeloma is malignant and by far, despite recent treatment advances, remains to be incurable. Ever since, it has become an everyday challenge for doctors and scientists to promise a cure.

There were several other clinical trials for Multiple Myeloma. One study, funded by the National Career Institute, which was started in July 1995, was coupled with chemotherapy where both were used as treatments for patients with such a condition. The vaccine was derived from a person’s tumor cells and allows the body to produce an immune response to kill its tumor cells. Its study design, like many others, was more of a treatment. The trial was completed on March 2007, with 60 patients in 3 treatment groups.

Another study, announced April of this year, known as the Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) is a collaboration of several research centers and universities. One of their projects is a vaccine therapy for Myeloma. Here the M-protein of a patient is isolated before treatment and eventually is used as a vaccine which makes the immune system destroy the myeloma’s cancer cells. Once the trial is successful together with a long time treatment (stem cell transplant), they will then conduct another trial where the vaccine is administered before the transplant.

Phase 2 of the study performed by the researchers from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Dana Farber Cancer Institute has recently shown promising results this May 2013. Its first clinical trial, the Phase 1, was submitted on April of 2010. Their research focused on fusing myeloma cancer cells to a patient’s dendritic cells. When the vaccine is given, that patient’s immune system is stimulated and destroys myeloma proteins. Their Phase 2 showed that immune responses of those vaccinated went more effective following an autologous stem cell transplant.

It is relieving to know that among many different trials, they all have a common goal, which is to lessen the unwanted effects of all therapies involved and increase survival rate.
Lyka Candelario, RN
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#3
Great to share this studies on this thread.. For us to be informed .. Well, Unlike a standard vaccine that is used to prevent infections, cancer vaccines are being studied to see if they can fight cancers that are already in the body... Great source !
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Positive Results from Multiple Myeloma Vaccine Trial51