"........new approach for cancer vaccine"

Bishadi · Jun 22, 2011

LONDON, June 20, 2011 (Reuters) Scientists have developed a technique that uses a library of DNA taken from organs in which tumors can form and harnesses the body's immune response to create a vaccine designed to treat cancer

In a study published in the journal Nature Medicine on Sunday, researchers from Britain and the United States said that in early tests in mice with prostate cancer, their experimental vaccine was able to shrink tumors, suggesting it could be developed in the future into a treatment for cancer patients.

"Using the immune system to treat cancer is a very exciting area at the moment," Alan Melcher of Leeds University, who co-led the study, said in an interview. "What we've done is to develop a new approach which builds on a promising foundation."

He said the method could potentially be used against other forms of cancer such as skin or breast cancer, but added that the research was at an early stage and it would be several years before a vaccine could be developed for testing in humans.

Immunotherapy treatments -- medicines that enlist the help of the body's immune system to fight disease -- are a relatively new form of potential cancer treatment.

An immunotherapy drug called ipilimumab, or Yervoy, made by Bristol-Myers Squibb, was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in March as the first drug to help advanced melanoma patients live longer.

And last April, the FDA approved Dendreon Corp's Provenge, a therapeutic vaccine designed to stimulate the immune system to attack prostate cancer.

CELLS

Unlike traditional vaccines, therapeutic vaccines are not designed to prevent disease, but to treat it. They contain genes to stimulate the immune system to produce proteins called antigens, which activate the immune system to kill cancer cells.

Several drugmakers are trying to develop cancer vaccines but the work is proving difficult because each tumor has specific proteins and identifying the right antigens is tricky. There are also concerns that if more genes are used to increase the chances of producing successful antigens, this might trigger an immune response that is too strong for the body to handle.

Working with scientists from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, Melcher's team made a vaccine made from a virus which they genetically engineered to contain a "library" of DNA including multiple fragments of genes -- and therefore many possible antigens.

They found that this approach did not send the immune system into overdrive. Instead, the range of DNA meant the vaccine was able to target the tumor through many routes, they said.

Importantly, the DNA library was harvested from the same organ as the tumor, Melcher explained. This meant that the immune system "self-selected" the cancer antigens to respond to and did not react against other healthy parts of the body.

"The biggest challenge in immunology is developing antigens that can target the tumor without causing harm elsewhere," he said. "By using DNA from the same part of the body as the tumor ... we may be able to solve that problem."

Melcher said his team now planned to develop the technique further and have an experimental vaccine ready for testing in humans within a few years.

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/kXu1yI Nature Medicine, online June 19, 2011
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i like it

inquiring mind want to know

waltky · Jul 8, 2011

Naked mole rat may have clue to cancer cure...

Scientists Study Cancer-Resistant Rat For Clues on Cancer Cure
July 07, 2011 : Scientists at Britains University of Liverpool are hoping to learn more about age-related illness and cancer in humans by studying the genes of a small, burrow-dwelling rodent called a naked mole-rat that somehow is resistant to cancer.

Recent studies suggest naked mole-rat cells have anti-tumor capabilities not found in the cells of other rodents or humans. To date, no cancer has ever been detected in a naked mole-rat, which can live for more than 30 years. That lifespan is seven to eight times longer than an average mouse, which is similar in size to the naked mole-rat, yet lives for only about four years.

The University of Liverpool scientists recently published the first draft of the complete genome of the naked mole-rat, and say their research revealed the small mammal's DNA shares similarities with human DNA. They say they want to use the new findings to gain a better understanding of the naked mole-rat's longevity, and its resistance to chronic diseases associated with aging, particularly cancer.

The naked mole-rat is native to the deserts of East Africa. It has no sensation of pain in its skin, and a low metabolic rate allows the tiny rodent species to thrive underground despite a limited oxygen supply.

Source
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Bishadi · Jul 8, 2011

waltky said: ↑

Naked mole rat may have clue to cancer cure...

Scientists Study Cancer-Resistant Rat For Clues on Cancer Cure
July 07, 2011 : Scientists at Britains University of Liverpool are hoping to learn more about age-related illness and cancer in humans by studying the genes of a small, burrow-dwelling rodent called a naked mole-rat that somehow is resistant to cancer.
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how about sharks, too?

it is not a cure, it is their immune system.

ahh...dahhh

waltky · Aug 31, 2011

Progress towards anti-cancer vaccine...

'Anti-cancer virus' shows promise
31 August 2011 - Modified vaccinia virus can target cancer

An engineered virus, injected into the blood, can selectively target cancer cells throughout the body in what researchers have labelled a medical first. The virus attacked only tumours, leaving the healthy tissue alone, in a small trial on 23 patients, according to the journal Nature. Researchers said the findings could one day "truly transform" therapies. Cancer specialists said using viruses showed "real promise". Using viruses to attack cancers is not a new concept, but they have needed to be injected directly into tumours in order to evade the immune system.

Smallpox to cancer

Scientists modified the vaccinia virus, which is more famous for being used to develop a smallpox vaccine. The virus, named JX-594, is dependent upon a chemical pathway, common in some cancers, in order to replicate. It was injected at different doses into the blood of 23 patients with cancers which had spread to multiple organs in the body. In the eight patients receiving the highest dose, seven had the virus replicating in their tumours, but not in healthy tissue. Prof John Bell, lead researcher and from the University of Ottawa, said: "We are very excited because this is the first time in medical history that a viral therapy has been shown to consistently and selectively replicate in cancer tissue after intravenous infusion in humans.

"Intravenous delivery is crucial for cancer treatment because it allows us to target tumours throughout the body as opposed to just those that we can directly inject." Infection prevented further tumour growth in six patients for a time. However, the virus did not cure cancer. Patients were given only one dose of the virus as the trial was designed to test the safety of the virus. It is thought that the virus could be used to deliver treatments directly to cancerous cells in high concentrations. Prof Bell acknowledges that the research is still in the very early stages, but he said: "I believe that some day, viruses and other biological therapies could truly transform our approach for treating cancer."

Cancer Research UK's Prof Nick Lemoine, also director of Barts Cancer Institute, said: "Viruses that multiply in just tumour cells - avoiding healthy cells - are showing real promise as a new biological approach to target hard-to-treat cancers. "This new study is important because it shows that a virus previously used safely to vaccinate against smallpox in millions of people can now be modified to reach cancers through the bloodstream - even after cancer has spread widely through the patient's body. "It is particularly encouraging that responses were seen even in tumours like mesothelioma, a cancer which can be particularly hard to treat."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-14730608
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waltky · Sep 3, 2011

Viral therapy against cancer...

Cancer-Fighting Engineered Virus Makes Medical History
September 01, 2011 : Researchers in Canada have used a genetically-modified virus to selectively kill cancer cells in humans without harming healthy tissue.

The idea of using viruses to fight cancer has interested scientists for decades. That interest has intensified as recent advances in genetic engineering have made it possible to custom design viruses that target cancer tumors.

The experimental viral therapy was administered in a single intravenous treatment in five dose strengths to 23 patients with a variety of advanced cancers. Scientists, including teams from the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, the University of Ottawa, and the private biotechnology company, Jennerex, say the engineered virus, called JX-954, replicated itself in the patient's tumors, but left normal, healthy tissues unaffected in seven of the eight patients in the two highest-dose groups.

Six of the patients in these high-dose groups saw their tumors stabilize or shrink. None of the patients experienced any side effects worse than mild-to-moderate flu-like symptoms that lasted for less than one day. The researchers say viral therapies like JX-954 stand apart from other cancer treatments because they can attack tumors in multiple ways, they can be customized easily for different types of cancer, and they cause minimal side effects.

The Canadian scientists say much more research is needed, but they predict that the early successes with intravenous viral therapy will lead to a whole new generation of targeted cancer treatments. The new study is published in the journal, Nature.

Source
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Bishadi · Nov 8, 2011

waltky said: ↑

Viral therapy against cancer...

Cancer-Fighting Engineered Virus Makes Medical History
September 01, 2011 : Researchers in Canada have used a genetically-modified virus to selectively kill cancer cells in humans without harming healthy tissue.
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the mass to carry what?

waltky · Dec 10, 2012

Using gene mapping in the fight against cancer...

DNA mapping for cancer patients
10 December 2012 - The human genome contains three billion pairs of code

Up to 100,000 patients with cancer and rare diseases in England are to have their entire genetic code sequenced. The Prime Minister will announce £100m has been set aside for the project over the next three to five years. The aim is to give doctors a better understanding of patients' genetic make-up, condition and treatment needs, and help develop new cancer treatments. One human genome contains three billion base pairs - the building blocks of DNA.

Sequencing the code produces a huge amount of data. Although the price is falling fast, it currently costs £5,000 to £10,000 - which explains why no country in the world has embarked on mass DNA mapping on this scale. When it will start - who will do the genome sequencing and analysis - has not been worked out - nor which patients will be eligible for the voluntary testing. But the hope is by comparing genetic profiles of huge numbers of patients, it will allow scientists to understand why some do far better than others - and help in the quest for new treatments.

Privacy campaigners are concern such a move could allow personal data to be passed on to private companies, such as insurance companies. But ministers insist the project is for medical research alone. For existing patients, DNA mapping may lead to better targeting of medicines. The power of this type of genetic analysis was demonstrated earlier this year when a study of 2,000 breast cancers showed the cancer should be thought of as 10 completely separate diseases.

Personalised therapies
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waltky · Jan 3, 2013

Boosting the immune system to fight cancer...

Immune system 'booster' may hit cancer
3 January 2013 - Vast numbers of cells that can attack cancer and HIV have been grown in the lab, and could potentially be used to fight disease.

The cells naturally occur in small numbers, but it is hoped injecting huge quantities back into a patient could turbo-charge the immune system. The Japanese research is published in the journal Cell Stem Cell. Experts said the results had exciting potential, but any therapy would need to be shown to be safe. The researchers concentrated on a type of white blood cell known as a cytotoxic T-cell, which can recognise telltale markings of infection or cancer on the surfaces of cells. If a marking is recognised, it launches an attack.

Teams at the University of Tokyo and the Riken Research Centre for Allergy and Immunology used advances in stem cell technology to make more T-cells. One group extracted T-cells which targeted a patient's skin cancer. Another group did the same for HIV. These T-cells were converted into stem cells, which could dramatically increase in number when grown in the laboratory. These were converted back into T-cells which should also have the ability to target the cancer or HIV.

New weapon?

The groups have proved only that they can make these cells, not that they can be safely put back into patients or that if would make a difference to their disease if they did. Dr Hiroshi Kawamoto, who worked on the cancer immune cells at Riken, said: "The next step will be to test whether these T-cells can selectively kill tumour cells, but not other cells in the body. "If they do, these cells might be directly injected into patients for therapy. This could be realized in the not-so-distant future." Dr Hiromitsu Nakauchi from the University of Tokyo said it was "unclear" whether this technique would help in treating HIV and that other infections and cancer may be a better place to start.

'Very exciting'
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waltky · Jan 8, 2013

Cancer deaths declining...

Report: Death rates from cancer still inching down
Jan 7,`13 WASHINGTON (AP) -- Death rates from cancer are continuing to inch down, researchers reported Monday.

Now the question is how to hold onto those gains, and do even better, even as the population gets older and fatter, both risks for developing cancer. "There has been clear progress," said Dr. Otis Brawley of the American Cancer Society, which compiled the annual cancer report with government and cancer advocacy groups. But bad diets, lack of physical activity and obesity together wield "incredible forces against this decline in mortality," Brawley said. He warned that over the next decade, that trio could surpass tobacco as the leading cause of cancer in the U.S.

Overall, deaths from cancer began slowly dropping in the 1990s, and Monday's report shows the trend holding. Among men, cancer death rates dropped by 1.8 percent a year between 2000 and 2009, and by 1.4 percent a year among women. The drops are thanks mostly to gains against some of the leading types - lung, colorectal, breast and prostate cancers - because of treatment advances and better screening. The news isn't all good. Deaths still are rising for certain cancer types including liver, pancreatic and, among men, melanoma, the most serious kind of skin cancer. Preventing cancer is better than treating it, but when it comes to new cases of cancer, the picture is more complicated.

Cancer incidence is dropping slightly among men, by just over half a percent a year, said the report published by the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Prostate, lung and colorectal cancers all saw declines. But for women, earlier drops have leveled off, the report found. That may be due in part to breast cancer. There were decreases in new breast cancer cases about a decade ago, as many women quit using hormone therapy after menopause. Since then, overall breast cancer incidence has plateaued, and rates have increased among black women.

Another problem area: Oral and anal cancers caused by HPV, the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus, are on the rise among both genders. HPV is better known for causing cervical cancer, and a protective vaccine is available. Government figures show just 32 percent of teen girls have received all three doses, fewer than in Canada, Britain and Australia. The vaccine was recommended for U.S. boys about a year ago. Among children, overall cancer death rates are dropping by 1.8 percent a year, but incidence is continuing to increase by just over half a percent a year. Brawley said it's not clear why.

Source
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waltky · May 16, 2014

Usin' measles to kill cancer...

Massive dose of measles vaccine clears woman's cancer
May 15, 2014 - Mayo Clinic researchers announced a landmark study where a massive dose of the measles vaccine, enough to inoculate 10 million people, wiped out a Minnesota woman's incurable blood cancer.

The Mayo Clinic conducted the clinical trial last year using virotherapy. The method discovered the measles virus wiped out multiple myeloma cancer calls. Researchers engineered the measles virus (MV-NIS) in a single intravenous dose, making it selectively toxic to cancer cells. Stacy Erholtz, 49, of Pequot Lakes, was one of two patients in the study who received the dose last year, and after 10 years with multiple myeloma has been clear of the disease for over six months. "My mindset was I didn't have any other options available, so why wouldn't I do it? I had to have failed all conventional treatment to do that trial. That actually happened last March," Erholtz told KARE. "It was the easiest treatment by far with very few side effects. I hope it's the future of treating cancer infusion."

Steven Russell, a Mayo Clinic hematologist, spearheaded the study and said the concept was previously tested in mice, but never in humans. "It's a huge milestone in that regard," said Russell. "We have known for some time viruses act like a vaccine. If you inject a virus into a tumor you can provoke the immune system to destroy that cancer and other cancers. This is different, it puts the virus into bloodstream, it infects and destroys the cancer, debulks it, and then the immune system can come and mop up the residue." Two multiple myeloma patients were chosen because they are immune-compromised, and can't fight off the measles before it has time to attack cancer. Both had limited previous exposure to measles, and therefore fewer antibodies to the virus, and essentially had no remaining treatment options. Of the two subjects in the study, Stacy was the only to reach full remission. The other patient's cancer returned after nine months.

Russell believes it's still a medical milestone, and he hopes his team can one day transform this research into a single shot cure. "It's like a call to action. It's not just good for our virus. It's good for every virus everybody's developing as a cancer therapy. We know this can happen," said Russell. Mayo researchers are also testing the measles virus's effectiveness at fighting ovarian, brain, head and neck cancers and mesothelioma. They are also developing other viruses that seem to have potential to kill cancer cells. "I think it's just remarkable. Who would have thought?" said Erholtz, who said she returns to the Mayo in June for a check up.

The Mayo is moving immediately into a phase two clinical trial involving more patients with a goal of FDA approval within four years. Patients interested in the upcoming clinic trial using measles vaccines to treat cancer can inquire here.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2014/05/15/measles-vaccine-cancer-mayo-clinic/9115363/
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Moi621 · May 16, 2014

Bishadi said: ↑

i like it

inquiring mind want to know
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Problem: Such an approach would work best on a "fresh" cancer patient and not one whose immune system has been compromised via cytotoxic drug therapy or radiation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coley%27s_toxins
Nothing new. Check out Coley's Toxins. Ask yourself why there is no current research.
One doc was chastised for trying it on dying brain caner patients at University of California, Davis Medical School Hospital.
Of course it was not reported as "Coley's Toxins" or any mention of it.
Imagine what kind of "animal" would inject bacterial toxins into a brain tumor of the dying, sort of press.

Here is what the American Cancer Society says. Sort of, we have a
better understanding of the immune system to create patentable, profitable medicine. Witness.
http://www.cancer.org/treatment/treatmentsandsideeffects/complementaryandalternativemedicine/pharmacologicalandbiologicaltreatment/coley-toxins

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