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Washington, D.C. — John L. Marshall, MD, associate professor of medicine at Georgetown University Medical Center's Lombardi Cancer Center, has received funding from the National Cancer Institute of $330,000 per year for the next five years to help develop a promising new cancer vaccine.
The Tricom vaccine uses an inert virus to deliver four genes, which strengthen the immune system and stimulate production of T-cells. The T-cells, vital components of the human immune system, in turn work to help the body kill its own cancer cells. Because the vaccine kills only cancer cells, it causes markedly fewer side effects than traditional chemotherapy, which affects healthy cells along with cancer cells. Marshall's clinical trial marks the first time the Tricom vaccine has been tested on humans.
"This vaccine gives us a powerful new weapon in our cancer-fighting arsenal," Marshall said. "Our trials involving mice show that Tricom works three times better than other vaccines we've experimented with, and I am very hopeful that the people in our new study will respond at least as well." About 40 people will be enrolled in the Phase I and II clinical trial, Marshall said.
The Tricom vaccine builds on the success of the Alvac cancer vaccine, which has been tested on about 55 Lombardi cancer patients since 1997 in clinical trials conducted by Marshall. Both vaccines work by "turning on" the body's immune system to kill its own cancer cells. Although the group of patients involved in the initial trial is too small to draw definitive conclusions about the success rate of the Alvac vaccine, Marshall said, initial results were encouraging; he said he hopes the Tricom vaccine will have even more positive results.
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