PANCREATIC CANCER VACCINE
More than 30,000 Americans are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer each year, and about the same number die. Chances of surviving more than 5 years with this disease are low. But researchers hope to reverse that trend with a new vaccine.
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When Ron Windle was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, he never imagined he'd be alive and still walking hand-in-hand with his wife three years later.
Ron Windle
Pancreatic cancer patient
"I was afraid. I still have many things to do in life."
Ron had surgery, chemo and radiation. Still, he only had a 20-percent chance of surviving five years based on statistics. That was until he enrolled in a clinical trial testing a new vaccine.
Doctors at Johns Hopkins give patients the vaccine after surgery and again after chemo and radiation.
Daniel Laheru, MD
Oncologist
The Sidney Kimmel
Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD
"I think we're very encouraged. What makes it exciting is the science behind the vaccine."
The vaccine uses genetically altered cells to create a molecule. The molecule lures immune cells -- shown here as red circles -- and retrains them to recognize the tumor -- the green blob on the screen -- as cancer and fight it.
Daniel Laheru, MD
Oncologist
"Essentially, it teaches the immune system to recognize those pancreas cancer cells as being foreign and attack them specifically."
So far, the results have been encouraging. With the vaccine, 76-percent of patients are alive after two years -- compared to 42-percent of patients who only received chemo and radiation.
Ron is one of the lucky ones. Today, he's cancer-free!
Ron Windle
"I'm sure it's why I'm here today. I've had many MRIs and cat scans, and there's no sign of cancer. None."
And he hopes to continue beating the odds.
The vaccine is injected about eight weeks after surgery and again after chemo and radiation treatment. Researchers at Johns Hopkins will conduct another study to refine the vaccine's targets. That study will start next year. If results come back as expected, they will apply for FDA approval.
BACKGROUND: Pancreatic cancer ranks as the fourth leading cause of death from cancer, and it affects more than 30,000 Americans each year. "The only known cure is surgical recession of the cancer," according to Daniel Laheru, M.D., from the Kimmel Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. The setback, he explains, is that only 15 to 20 of every 100 patients can have the surgery because this type of cancer is often not detected early enough.
The symptoms of pancreatic cancer include abdominal pain, loss of appetite, weight loss, jaundice and digestive problems, yet these warnings are usually not noticed or felt until the cancer is very advanced. Survival rates, especially in the long-term, are grim. Although variance is seen from study to study, most produce survival rates of about 63 percent one year following diagnosis and 42 percent two years afterward. Dr. Laheru says, "These cancers are very clever and able to grow inside your body and essentially evade normal surveillance mechanisms."
METHODS OF TREATMENT: Despite the grim prognosis that typically shadows pancreatic cancer, treatment methods are available. Various types of surgery, depending on the stage and form of the cancer, can be used to attempt removal. Some of the potential surgeries include the whipple procedure (surgeon removes the head of the pancreas and a portion of the small intestine, stomach, and bile duct), distal procedure (surgeon removes the body and tail of the pancreas as well as the spleen), and the total pancreatectomy (surgeon removes the whole pancreas, as well as part of the stomach, some of the small intestine, the common bile duct, the gallbladder, the spleen, and close lymph nodes). Radiation and chemotherapy are other forms of treatment. All of these options may be used alone or in differing combinations. A final source of treatment lies in new studies and trials, which may or may not be successful. Researchers at Johns Hopkins are working on a vaccine for pancreatic cancer, and they may be on to something.
BREAKING NEW GROUND: The study to create a new solution to pancreatic cancer is headed by Dr. Laheru and has been in progress for about two years. The researchers are using surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation, but are supplementing it with a new vaccine. The vaccine uses cancer cells that are stunted in growth that emit a certain molecule called GM-CSF. This molecule attracts cells that still have immunity to the tumor and causes them to come in contact with antigens from cells that have been exposed to radiation. These same cells then travel around the body and annihilate other cancerous cells.
Patients receive the vaccination eight to 10 weeks after surgery and again after chemotherapy and radiation in a series of four booster shots. Two years into the study, the statistical results are optimistic. Of the 60 patients in the study, survival rates are reported to be 88 percent after one year and 76 percent after two years. Elizabeth Jaffee, M.D., says it will be important to follow the progress of the patients involved. She adds, "We are hopeful these early results will hold true."
Vanessa Wasta
Assistant Director, Media and Web Projects
Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center
901 S. Bond Street, Suite 573
Baltimore, MD 21231
(410) 955-1287
www.hopkinskimmelcancercenter.org
Copyright © 2006 Ivanhoe Broadcast News, Inc.
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