Direct injection treatment of pancreatic cancer shows encouraging results

the Oncology Nurse Advisor take:

Results of a phase I clinical trial of a vaccine therapy for pancreatic cancer indicate the treatment is well tolerated; in addition, it suggests that the vaccine stabilizes the disease for a period of time. The study was conducted at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey. In a previous study, investigators demonstrated that vaccine therapy was effective in reversing the immune blockade in laboratory models of bladder and breast cancer tumors. Building on that research, this study involved two types of the PANVAC investigational vaccine. The first, PANVAC-V is a live but weakened vaccinia vaccine administered by injection in the arm. The other is PANVAC-F, which is injected into the tumor itself and subsequently into the arm as a booster. Direct tumor injection is achieved via endoscopic ultrasonography through the mouth and into the stomach. Of the 10 patients who completed the trial, three were shown to have distant metastatic disease with a survival range of 6 to 22 months. The other seven patients had no metastatic disease and a survival range of 4 to 36 months. Given the poor prognosis of this disease, the researchers were encouraged by these results.