Cell Genesys Reports Antitumor Activity In Phase I/II GVAX Vaccine Trial.(Brief Article)

2001 MAY 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) --

Cell Genesys, Inc. (CEGE) reported interim clinical data from its multicenter Phase I/II GVAX(R) lung cancer vaccine trial that demonstrate objective evidence of antitumor activity including a major response rate of 18% in patients with advanced non small-cell lung cancer who have failed chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy.

These data were presented on behalf of the GVAX Lung Cancer Clinical investigators by John Nemunaitis, MD, of U.S. Oncology on May 13, 2001, at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Meeting in San Francisco, California.

The interim clinical trial data include results on 30 currently evaluable patients with advanced or early-stage lung cancer. Of 22 patients with advanced-stage lung cancer, three patients, two of whom had failed chemotherapy and one who failed radiation therapy, showed a complete disappearance of metastatic tumors following treatment with GVAX lung cancer vaccine. One other patient who failed radiation and chemotherapy had partial (greater than 50%) reduction in his tumor. In addition to these major responses, four patients currently have stable (non-progressive) disease. All of these responses are continuing with a median follow-up time of approximately five months.

In addition to the responses in patients with advanced disease, seven of eight patients with early-stage lung cancer who received GVAX vaccine following surgery, currently remain free of disease with a median follow-up time of seven months.

"We are very encouraged by what we have seen to date with GVAX lung cancer vaccine, particularly with respect to the major tumor responses in patients with metastatic lung cancer who have failed chemotherapy," stated Nemunaitis. "These findings are all the more noteworthy given that lung cancer patients who fail chemotherapy have little chance of responding to ...