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Vaccines

At dose levels I IV the vaccine cells will be injected intradermally every four weeks for four cycles. Dosage will vary from a total of 3 x 106 to 100 x 106 HyperAcute -Lung Cancer Vaccine cells administered per vaccination cycle. At dose level V patients will receive injections of the HyperAcute -Lung Cancer Vaccine cells to include one (1) initial priming vaccine dose of 500 x 106 cells followed by seven (7) booster vaccine cell doses of 300 x 106 HyperAcute -Lung Cancer cell vaccine cells every two weeks. In Phase II, patients will receive 300 x 106 HyperAcute -Lung Cancer cell vaccine cells every two weeks for a total of 8 doses (4 months).

Drug: Hyperacute Lung Cancer Cell Vaccine

Arun Rajan, M.D.

This 2-phase study will determine the safety of treating patients with non-small cell lung cancer with the genetically engineered HyperAcute-Lung cancer vaccine. It will establish the proper vaccine dose and will examine side effects and potential benefits of the treatment. The vaccine contains killed lung cancer cells containing a mouse gene that causes the production of a foreign pattern of protein-sugars on the cell surface. It is hoped that the immune response to the foreign substance will stimulate the immune system to attack the patient's own cancer cells that have similar proteins without this sugar pattern, causing the tumor to remain stable or shrink.

Patients 18 years of age or older with non-small cell lung cancer that has recurred or no longer responds to standard treatment may be eligible for this study. Candidates will be screened with a medical history and physical examination, blood tests, urinalysis, chest x-rays, and lung function testing. CT, MRI, PET, and ultrasound scans of the chest may be obtained if needed.

Participants will receive four vaccinations a month apart from each other. The vaccines will be injected under the skin, similar to the way a tuberculosis skin test is given. Phase I of the study will treat successive groups of patients with increasing numbers of the vaccine cells to evaluate side effects of the treatment and determine the optimum dose. Phase II will look for any beneficial effects of the vaccine given at the highest dose found to be safe in Phase I. Weekly blood samples will be drawn during the 4 months of vaccine treatment. In addition, patient follow-up visits will be scheduled every 2 months for the first year after vaccination and then every 3 months for the next 2 years for the following tests and procedures to evaluate treatment response and side effects:

* Medical history and physical examination
* Blood tests
* X-rays and various scans (nuclear medicine/CT/MRI)
* FACT-L Assessment questionnaire to measure the impact of treatment on the patient's general well-being. The questionnaire is administered before beginning treatment, before each vaccination, and during follow-up visits after completing the treatment. It includes questions on the severity of lung cancer symptoms and the ability to perform normal activities of daily life.

In addition to the above procedures, 3 skin punch biopsies will be done at the vaccination site to look for a local immune response. For this procedure, an area of skin is numbed with an anesthetic and a 4 mm (about 1/4-inch) circular area is removed, using a sharp cookie cutter-type instrument. Also, one blood sample per year will be collected for the next 15 years to monitor the safety of the gene transfer. Patients whose lung cancer spreads to the skin, superficial soft tissues, or a superficial lymph node may be asked to undergo a biopsy of the lesion to see what effect the treatment may be having on the tumor.

Background:

* Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer death with an estimated 174,400 new cases and 162,400 deaths each year in the U.S.
* Despite attempts at early diagnosis and the development of new therapeutic agents, there has been only limited improvement in the outcome for patients with advanced lung cancer.
* A enzyme called alpha(1,3)galactosyltranferase (alphaGT) that is not found in humans can transfer sugars on to proteins in human cells that can make them highly immunogenic and cause them to be rejected by the body.
* Antitumor vaccination using killed donor human lung cancer cells expressing alphaGT may stimulate immune responses in patients against their own lung cancer because their lung cancer may share antigens with the vaccine cells that have been made more immunogenic by expression of alphaGT.

Objectives:

Phase I has been completed.

Phase II

* To assess the tumor response rate of anti-tumor vaccination using irradiated allogeneic lung cancer cell lines genetically engineered to express the murine alpha(1,3)galactosyltransferase enzyme in patients with advanced, recurrent or refractory non-small cell lung cancer.
* To assess the immunological response of patients with lung cancer undergoing antitumor vaccination with irradiated allogeneic lung cancer cell lines genetically engineered to express murine alpha(1,3)galactosyltransferase.
* Assess the survival distribution as well as the duration of response.

Eligibility:

* Non-small cell lung cancer (Adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, large cell anaplastic carcinoma and bronchoalveolar carcinoma).
* Stage IV, recurrent or treatment refractory disease.
* No exclusion for prior therapy. Prior therapy may include surgery, radiation, immunotherapy, and chemotherapy regimens. EGFR inhibitors or monoclonal antibodies are included as chemotherapy.
* Patients must have a granulocyte count of greater than or equal to 1000/microL, platelets greater than or equal to 100,000/microL, hemoglobin greater than 10.0 gm/dL, albumin greater than or equal to 3.0 gm/dL and acceptable hepatic and renal function.
* No systemic corticosteroids.

Design (Phase II):

* Patients will be intradermally vaccinated with 300 million alpha(1,3)galactosyltranferase-expressing vaccine cells every 2-weeks to complete a total of eight vaccinations.
* Patients will be monitored for tumor and immunological responses and safety.

Vaccine Treatment for Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

A Phase I/II Study of Tergenpumatucel-L (HyperAcute Lung) an Antitumor Vaccination Using Alpha (1,3) Galactosyltransferase Expressing Allogeneic Tumor Cells in Patients With Refractory or Recurrent Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

National Cancer Institute (NCI)

NewLink Genetics Corporation

Spots Global Cancer Trial Database for drug: hyperacute lung cancer cell vaccine