• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Wednesday, July 23, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Cancer

Vaccine Treatment of Pancreatic Cancer

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
May 21, 2014
in Cancer
Reading Time: 3 mins read
1
ADVERTISEMENT
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

Research from Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey shows that the ‘first in man’ series of vaccine injections given directly into a pancreatic cancer tumor is not only well tolerated, but also suggests an “encouraging” period of stable disease. Results from a Phase I clinical trial conducted at the Cancer Institute of New Jersey are being given as part of a poster presentation at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Pancreatic Cancer: Innovations in Research and Treatment conference being held in New Orleans this week.

Vaccine Treatment of Pancreatic Cancer

Edmund Lattime (left), PhD and Elizabeth Poplin, MD. Photo Credit: Debbie Vogel

Vaccine therapies are designed to strengthen the body’s immune defenses and are typically given in the arm or leg. In a previous study, investigators at the Cancer Institute showed that using a vaccine treatment for bladder and breast cancer tumors in laboratory models resulted in a reversal of the traditional immune blockade, as well as the development of tumor specific immunity throughout the body. This tumor specific immunity showed the potential of blocking the growth of the original tumor as well as eliminating small tumor deposits that can cause the cancer to spread. Building on this research, investigators further tested this vaccine in a direct injection method in patients who were not candidates for surgery to remove their cancer. The Cancer Institute’s Associate Director for Education and Training Edmund Lattime, PhD, who is also a professor of surgery at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, and Elizabeth Poplin, MD, co-director of the Cancer Institute’s Gastrointestinal/Hepatobiliary Program and a professor of medicine at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School are the lead investigators of the study.

The focus of the research is the investigational vaccine known as PANVAC. PANVAC contains gene additives that might stimulate a person’s immune system to recognize and develop an immune response to the disease. Two types of PANVAC were utilized in this trial. PANVAC-V, which uses the same virus as the smallpox vaccine, is a live but weakened vaccinia vaccine (meaning the virus can still multiply) that is given in the arm. PANVAC-F (a live Fowlpox virus that cannot multiply) is injected into the tumor itself and subsequently into the arm as a booster. Direct tumor injection takes place through an endoscopic ultrasound, in which a scope is inserted through the mouth and into the stomach so that the tumor in the pancreas can be seen.

During the first phase of the study, patients were evaluated for toxicity, tumor progression and the presence of tumor markers for pancreatic cancer. Two patients were removed from the first part of the study after two weeks due to rapid disease progression; one died six months after first being placed on the trial and the other after one month. The second part of the trial involved giving a higher dosage of PANVAC-F during direct injection of the tumor. During this phase, one patient was removed due to rapid disease progression and died one month after, while a second patient withdrew and died after 16 months.

Of the remaining 10 patients from both dose levels, three were shown to have distant metastatic disease with a survival range of six to 22 months. The other seven patients presented without distant metastasis with a survival range of four to 36 months. Of this latter group, none developed disease that spread beyond the original tumor into other organs but instead died of a secondary condition associated with locally progressive pancreas cancer. All but one of the ten patients transitioned to treatment with gemcitabine, which is a standard therapy for pancreas cancer. A series of genetic analyses for day one and day 14 patient immune responses is currently being examined.

“While the median survival rate for patients without distant metastasis was nearly a year-and-a-half with this treatment, there was one patient whose disease remained clinically stable for nearly three years. When you have a disease that only carries a five-year, six percent survival rate, these findings are very encouraging and will hopefully lead to more effective ways of managing and treating this disease,” note the researchers.

Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey.

Share12Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

blank

Hepatoblastoma Trends: Dynamic SDI Analysis

July 5, 2025
Noninvasive Nasopharyngeal Cancer Detection via Gene Methylation

Noninvasive Nasopharyngeal Cancer Detection via Gene Methylation

July 5, 2025

Molecular Biomarkers Predicting Adult Glioma Radiosensitivity

July 5, 2025

Aerobic Exercises Combat Fatigue in Colorectal Cancer

July 5, 2025
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • Blind to the Burn

    Overlooked Dangers: Debunking Common Myths About Skin Cancer Risk in the U.S.

    58 shares
    Share 23 Tweet 15
  • New Organic Photoredox Catalysis System Boosts Efficiency, Drawing Inspiration from Photosynthesis

    54 shares
    Share 22 Tweet 14
  • IIT Researchers Unveil Flying Humanoid Robot: A Breakthrough in Robotics

    53 shares
    Share 21 Tweet 13
  • AI Achieves Breakthrough in Drug Discovery by Tackling the True Complexity of Aging

    70 shares
    Share 28 Tweet 18

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Additive Manufacturing of Monolithic Gyroidal Solid Oxide Cells

Machine Learning Uncovers Sorghum’s Complex Mold Resistance

Pathology Multiplexing Revolutionizes Disease Mapping

  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.