Business Weekly - Cambridge, UK

Freda Stevenson, professor of immunology at the University of Southampton, presented on the use of DNA fusion gene vaccines against cancer, including preclinical developments and clinical testing, at the second Annual DNA Vaccines Forum, London.

Her report covered the clinical testing of the DNA fusion gene vaccines against lymphoma – the first in a series of human clinical trials using novel vaccines that use tetanus toxin to boost the immune response against cancer.

The trials to-date have been funded by major cancer charities including The Leukaemia Research Fund and Cancer Research UK. A majority of patients have shown an immunological response to the vaccine. Side effects include mild, flu-like symptoms; however, no safety or tolerability issues have been reported, says MMI.

Two pilot clinical trials in patients with myeloma (cancer of the bone marrow) are ongoing and at the University of Southampton, the DNA fusion gene vaccine technology is being evaluated in a clinical trial targeting prostate cancer.

A further clinical trial, funded by Cancer Research UK, is planned for later this year with vaccines targeted to colon cancer and other solid tumours such as lung or stomach cancer (tumours that express the cancer antigen CEA).