Lung cancer vaccine on the horizon

Researchers found the cancer vaccine TG4010 used in conjunction with standard chemotherapy slows down the growth in advanced non-small-cell-lung cancer (NSCLC).

TG4010 is a novel therapeutic vaccine that stimulates the body’s immune response to make an antibody against the MUC1 protein which is a key ingredient in helping the lung cancer cells grow.

Dr Harit Chaturvedi, director of surgical oncology at Max Hospital Saket, stated, "Lung cancer is the second most common form of cancer in India. In some places, it is the most common because of tobacco consumption. Around 90% of lung cancers are NSCLC, which is very aggressive. More than 85% report to a doctor in advanced stages.

“If detected in stage 1, the cure rate is 70%, while in stage 3, it is 20%. Majority of the patients, however, come to us when in stage four. So a vaccine that can slow down progression and also improve chemotherapy effects will be a boon.”

Safety and efficacy of TG4010 assessed
In a bid to assess the safety and efficacy of the cancer vaccine TG4010 vaccine by Transgene, Elisabeth Quoix and her team at the University of Strasbourg in France conducted a clinical trial.

They recruited 148 patients with advanced NSCLC between 2005 and 2007 at 23 centres across France, Poland, Germany, and Hungary.

Though the patients’ malignancy expressed MUC1, they had not undergone chemotherapy regimen.

The subjects were split into two groups. The first was assigned to receive TG4014 in combination with chemotherapy while the second acting as the control group was administered only standard chemotherapy.

Outcome of the study
After a period of six months, the combo treatment exhibited slower progression of their cancer in 43 percent of the patients as compared to 35 percent of those who had only chemotherapy.

Overall, survival was 10.7 months for those in the vaccinated group while it was10.3 months for those who received only traditional therapy.

Incidence of common side effects like anaemia, neutropenia (low white blood cell count) and thrombocytopenia (abnormally low number of blood platelets) was similar in both groups.

Prof Peter Johnson, chief clinician at Cancer Research UK stated, "There's a lot of interest in harnessing the power of the immune system to treat cancer. This early-stage study shows that combining a vaccine with chemotherapy is possible, and may have some benefits for some people with lung cancer.

"But this study leaves a lot of unanswered questions - further research is needed to see whether the vaccine will actually improve survival for lung cancer patients."

The finding has been published in the medical journal "Lancet Oncology" on Saturday.