 |  |  | | | LIVERPOOL DOCTORS DEVELOP NOVEL CANCER VACCINE | | | | |
| |  Scientists
Release Date: 11th March 2004
Doctors in Liverpool are developing a new treatment for chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) that uses a protein attached to cancer cells, to vaccinate patients against their own disease.
A protein (BCR-ABL peptide) that is found in chronic myeloid leukaemia cells may create an immune response in patients with this form of leukaemia. CML is a cancer of the white blood cells which affects 750 people in the UK each year. (see notes for editors)
After successful laboratory tests, Dr Richard Clark - who is based at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital - has started a small trial of patients to ensure the technique is safe and effective in treating this form of blood cancer. The trial is funded by a grant of £310,000 from Leukaemia Research.
Dr Clark, who is also Reader in Haematology at the University of Liverpool, hopes to study up to 40 patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia over the next three years. These will be patients who have been treated with a promising new treatment called Glivec (see notes for editors), and who are currently in remission from their disease.
It has been shown that a number of "dormant" or inactive leukaemia cells can remain after treatment, which may cause the patient to relapse. Dr Clark has developed this novel treatment strategy to prompt the immune system to 'sweep up' any residual cells that remain after chemotherapy to keep the patient in remission.
Dr Clark explained: "Patients will receive a series of six injections into their skin over nine weeks. We will then test if the vaccination has been successful by looking for the development of immune cells that can recognise and kill the leukaemia cell."
Though still in its infancy, this revolutionary approach to attacking cancer, by waking up the patient's immune system and switching it on to the disease, has a generated a great deal of interest from doctors and scientists around the world.
Leukaemia Research Scientific Director, Dr David Grant, says: "There has long been the suspicion that the immune system can act against cancer cells. This has fired scientists and clinicians to seek ways to harness this potential. At last, we are beginning to see years of research translated into benefits for patients.
"Tumour cells are extremely cunning, so it has been a significant achievement to develop a vaccine which enables the immune system to recognize and kill off these cells."
This work has developed from an understanding of the complexities of the immune system and the way healthy cells and cancerous cells differ. Some of these differences give rise to new proteins expressed by the cancer cells, and these become potential targets for generating immune responses.
Stressing the need for more effective cancer treatments, Dr Grant said: "The drugs currently used to treat leukaemia do not always rid patients of all their disease.
"We need to find ways to get long-term control of the cancer. This is why the immune system is so important. A combination of powerful cancer-killing drugs and a simple vaccination that ensures the immune cells sweep up any residual cancer cells would be a major step forward in the treatment of these diseases."
38 year-old Julie Tyson, a CML patient from Chester explains why she became involved in the new vaccine trial: "Whilst I am doing very well on Glivec, I realized that this type of study is the only the way to make sure that new treatments become available to patients in the future. I was warned that the injections might cause some flu like symptoms - but apart from that it has not been too bad." She has to give a blood sample once a month for Dr Clark and his team to monitor the effect of the vaccine.
Julie was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2000, and was treated with Glivec. But some months later, she found out she was pregnant so doctors decided to stop her treatment and monitor her.
"I am delighted to say that I have a wonderful two year-old girl, Ella. I have been back on Glivec and have been doing very well ever since - I only have to go in for a check up every six weeks," she adds.
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