Cancer Vaccine Triggers Immune System in Ovarian Cancer Study

Press release from Roswell Park Cancer Institute

BUFFALO, NY – A therapeutic ovarian cancer vaccine developed by researchers at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) has shown promise in a phase I clinical trial. The results are published in online Early Edition (EE)Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences*.

While most women with advanced stage ovarian cancer respond to first-line chemotherapy, more than 70% of patients die of recurrent disease within five years of diagnosis, highlighting the need for additional therapeutic options. The goal of therapeutic cancer vaccines is to stimulate the body’s antitumor immune response to help rid the body of cancerous cells remaining after primary treatment and hopefully extend remission.

The experimental vaccine analyzed in this clinical trial contains a foreign molecule known to stimulate an immune response, coupled with a fragment of protein, called NY-ESO-1, that is expressed in many ovarian tumors.

Kunle Odunsi, MD, PhD, and colleagues from the departments of Gynecologic Oncology and Immunology at RPCI, together with collaborators from the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, evaluated this vaccine in women with epithelial ovarian cancer, a cancer type that originates in the covering of the ovaries.

The researchers found that the vaccine induced antibody and T cell responses in patients, and that vaccine-induced T cells were able to recognize NY-ESO-1-expressing tumor cells. “Further, we detected vaccine-induced immune cells in patients up to 12 months after immunization, suggesting a long-lasting effect,” according to Dr. Odunsi.

The study was supported by a Cancer Research Institute/Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Cancer Vaccine Collaborative Program grant to Dr. Odunsi. Based on the encouraging results from the trial, the authors suggest that this or a similar vaccine should be further evaluated as immunotherapy for patients with epithelial ovarian cancer.

*Article #03342: “Vaccination with an NY-ESO-1 peptide of HLA class I/II specificities induces integrated humoral and T-cell responses in ovarian cancer,” Kunle Odunsi, Feng Qian, Junko Matsuzaki, Paulette Mhawech-Fauceglia, Christopher Andrews, Eric W. Hoffman, Linda Pan, Gerd Ritter, Jeannine Villella, Bridget Thomas, Kerry Rodabaugh, Shashikant Lele, Protul Shrikant, Lloyd J. Old, and Sacha Gnjatic.