Phase III Clinical Trial Of Experimental Vaccine Seeks Volunteers.(to test individually tailored lymphoma vaccine)

2001 AUG 15 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) --

Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, Jonsson Cancer Center are seeking volunteers for a final phase clinical trial that will test the safety and effectiveness of individually tailored vaccines to fight a common type of lymphoma.

The vaccines will be manufactured to target proteins unique to each patient's lymphoma, said Dr. Christos Emmanouilides, director of the Clinical Lymphoma Research Program at the Jonsson Cancer Center and principal investigator for the multicenter study.

UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center is the only institution in Southern California to offer this experimental vaccine therapy, researchers said.

The vaccine therapy, which will be combined with chemotherapy, has prompted encouraging results in earlier phase studies of about 100 people conducted at Stanford University, Emmanouilides said. To qualify for the study, volunteers should have untreated follicular lymphoma, a common form of cancer of the lymph nodes. This type of lymphoma is considered incurable in most cases, Emmanouilides said. By the time it's diagnosed, the cancer often has spread to many lymph node groups or other organs. It can be manageable, but a cure is rare. However, the vaccine may provide some hope, he said.

"This may give us a new system to fight it," Emmanouilides said. "It's an exciting concept."

Volunteers for the study will have a sample of their cancerous tissue removed during a needle biopsy. That sample will be used to manufacture the vaccine. Volunteers will undergo eight rounds of chemotherapy and then will be injected with the individually tailored vaccine, which researchers hope will prompt the body's immune system to fight off the cancer while leaving healthy cells alone. Volunteers must undergo five ...