New oral vaccine for pancreatic cancer

Vaccination could push back pancreatic cancer: researchers are looking for patients for study

01/01/2012

In the beginning, patients will notice little or no specific symptoms, which is why pancreatic cancer is usually detected very late. Survival and treatment options are usually low. Researchers at the University Hospital in Heidelberg are currently testing a promising oral vaccine against the fatal cancer. The body's immune system is to be activated by means of manipulated bacteria against cancer cells. The Heidelberg researchers call patients to participate in the study work.

Low chance of survival for cancer of the pancreas
Pancreatic cancer (pancreatic carcinoma) is one of the most dreaded cancers. After diagnosis, there is only a five percent survival rate after five years. Ninety-five percent of patients die in the period after detection of the disease. The main reason is that only 10 to 15 percent of pancreatic carcinomas are surgically treatable at the time of diagnosis. If no intervention can be undertaken, the chance of survival decreases rapidly. A new chance of survival could mean the research work of the University Hospital Heidelberg. Scientists are testing a new vaccine against pancreatic cancer. It should activate the cancer defense of the body.

Defense system should be activated by bacteria
The new vaccine is said to activate the body's own immune system, which attacks and eliminates the blood vessels of the carcinoma with the help of modified bacteria. The vessels are important to ensure nutrient supply and promote the growth of the ulcer and the metastasis of the tumor cells in the other organs. The oral vaccine VXM01 was successful in initial studies. In animal-based experiments „Such vaccines showed a promising effect on various types of tumors, "explains research director senior physician Dr. Hubertus Schmitz-Winnenthal. „The cancers grew slower overall and formed fewer metastases“. The animals used showed a higher survival rate than other experimental animals.

Patients wanted for trial study
For the study with patients, subjects are searched. People with pancreatic cancer can take part in the test. The prerequisite is that no surgery has yet been undertaken and the cancer has not spread (formation of metastases). During the test phase, the study participants will be staying at the Pharmacological Center of the University Hospital in Heidelberg and will receive the usual chemotherapy in addition to the vaccines. During the hospital stay, subjects are given the experimental vaccine or placebo (drug-free preparation). In a final examination, the doctors check the result of the therapy. Already after ten days it can be determined whether the treatment has struck or not, explains the study director Privatdozent Schmitz-Winnenthal, who is also head of the section for endocrine surgery at the Surgical University Hospital. In the following two years, the participating patients will be followed up medically. Interested parties should contact the Clinical Study Center for Surgery (KSC), telephone number 00496221/566986. Further questions will be answered by phone.

Altered bacteria stimulate the immune system
The newly discovered vaccine VXM01 contains attenuated bacteria whose structure has been genetically modified. They contain a gene that ensures the production of a special protein. The protein molecules are found in high numbers in the cancerous tumors. „When cells of the intestinal mucosal immune system come into contact with bacteria-affected cells, they fight them as infected and potentially dangerous.“ Thus, a kind of programming of the immune system is promoted that now classifies the cells with the specific protein VEGFR-2 as dangerous and destroyed as a result. The carrier bacteria are now medically approved as a vaccine and are used, for example, in vaccines against typhoid fever. In the near future, VXM01 will also find use in other cancers. For this, however, the active ingredient must be further developed, the scientists said.

Research approach not new
For several years, scientists around the world have been working hard on cancer vaccines. From the basic principle, all researched cancer vaccines are similar. The immune system is stimulated from the outside to prevent the spread of the tumor. Instead of bacteria, the German Cancer Research Center works with viruses. These should do what they do best in the human body: destroy human cells. However, the viruses are reprogrammed to focus exclusively on the cancer cells. First final results are expected in a few years. (Sb)

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Picture: Sigrid Rossmann