Human Trial Underway Utilizing CEA/TRICOM Vaccine.(Brief Article)

2001 NOV 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Therion Biologics Corp.'s CEA/TRICOM vaccine was noted at the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference as a next generation therapeutic for improved treatment of tumors found in a majority of colorectal cancer patients.

CEA/TRICOM, designed to enhance the body's immune response against cancers expressing the CEA tumor antigen, is currently in Phase I trials at Georgetown University's Lombardi Cancer Center. John Marshall, MD, principal investigator of the study, presented preliminary findings from the CEA/TRICOM trial at the meeting.

The results reflect progress under an existing Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) between Therion and Jeffrey Schlom, PhD, of the National Cancer Institute's Laboratory of Tumor Immunology and Biology.

CEA/TRICOM is a vaccine designed to build on clinical results presented May 2001 at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting. The ASCO data demonstrated, for the first time, a significant increase in patient survival using a Therion cancer vaccine to generate an immune response that targets specific tumor cells. Like its predecessors, the CEA/TRICOM product utilizes pox virus vectors bearing the CEA tumor antigen to stimulate and sustain (prime and boost) an immune response against tumor cells. Yet CEA/TRICOM also incorporates, in addition to the CEA tumor antigen, three costimulatory molecules to further strengthen the immune system's defenses against colorectal, lung and other CEA-bearing cancers.

"There is a growing appreciation for the promise of cancer vaccines to safely and significantly enhance patient survival,'' stated Marshall, Associate Professor of Medicine at Georgetown University. "Our previous clinical studies have already shown that by combining the CEA antigen with a vaccine vector, we can generate a strong antitumor immune response and, most importantly, increase patient survival. We're now taking this approach one step further with the addition of three key costimulatory molecules. This change, we believe, will even more dramatically increase the anticancer immune response.''

Marshall added, "Even though we just recently began this Phase I trial of CEA/TRICOM, the strong safety profiles and early encouraging response that we've seen to date give us reason to continue evaluating this product. Our next steps will include collection and ...