PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Update: 50 percent of patients in Cedars-Sinai brain cancer study alive after 5 years

With standard care, median length of survival is 15 months after diagnosis of glioblastoma multiforme -- and only 10 percent survive more than 5 years

2013-11-24
(Press-News.org) Contact information: Sandy Van
sandy@prpacific.com
808-526-1708
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Update: 50 percent of patients in Cedars-Sinai brain cancer study alive after 5 years With standard care, median length of survival is 15 months after diagnosis of glioblastoma multiforme -- and only 10 percent survive more than 5 years LOS ANGELES (NOV. 23, 2013) – Eight of 16 patients participating in a study of an experimental immune system therapy directed against the most aggressive malignant brain tumors – glioblastoma multiforme – survived longer than five years after diagnosis, according to Cedars-Sinai researchers, who presented findings Nov. 23 at the Fourth Quadrennial Meeting of the World Federation of Neuro-Oncology.

Seven of the 16 participants still are living, with length of survival ranging from 60.7 to 82.7 months after diagnosis. Six of the patients also were "progression free" for more than five years, meaning the tumors did not return or require more treatment during that time. Four participants still remain free of disease with good quality of life at lengths ranging from 65.1 to 82.7 months following diagnosis. One patient who remained free of brain cancer for five years died of leukemia.

The original clinical trial – a Phase I study designed to evaluate safety – included 16 patients with glioblastoma multiforme enrolled between May 2007 and January 2010 by researchers at Cedars-Sinai's Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr. Brain Tumor Center.

Results published in January at the end of the study showed median overall survival of 38.4 months. Typically, when tumor-removal surgery is followed by standard care, which includes radiation and chemotherapy, median length of survival is about 15 months. Median progression-free survival – the time from treatment to tumor recurrence – was 16.9 months at study's end. With standard care, the median is about seven months.

The experimental treatment consists of a vaccine, ICT-107, intended to alert the immune system to the existence of cancer cells and activate a tumor-killing response. It targets six antigens involved in the development of glioblastoma cells.

According to information presented at the scientific meetings, all eight long-term survivors had tumors with at least five antigens, 75 percent had tumors with all six, and 100 percent had tumors with at least four antigens associated with cancer stem cells – cancer-originating cells that appear to enable tumors to resist radiation and chemotherapy and even regenerate after treatment.

"Our findings suggest that targeting antigens that are highly expressed by cancer stem cells may be a viable strategy for treating patients who have glioblastomas. Long-term remission of disease in this group of patients was correlated with the expression of cancer stem cell tumor-associated antigens," said Surasak Phuphanich, MD, director of the Neuro-Oncology Program at the Cochran Brain Tumor Center and professor of neurology with Cedars-Sinai's Department of Neurosurgery and Department of Neurology.

Based on results of the Phase I study, the ICT-107 vaccine entered a Phase II multicenter, randomized, placebo-controlled trial in 2011.

The vaccine is based on dendritic cells, the immune system's most powerful antigen-presenting cells – those responsible for helping the immune system recognize invaders. They are derived from white blood cells taken from each participating patient in a routine blood draw. In the laboratory, the cells are cultured with synthetic peptides of the six antigens – essentially training the dendritic cells to recognize the tumor antigens as targets. When the "new" dendritic cells in the vaccine are injected under the patient's skin, they are intended to seek and destroy lingering tumor cells. Vaccine is administered three times at two-week intervals after standard radiation and chemotherapy.

Phuphanich is first author of an abstract presented at the scientific meetings' poster session from 5 to 7 p.m. PST Nov. 23.

ICT-107 is a product of the biotechnology company ImmunoCellular Therapeutics, Ltd. Cedars-Sinai owns equity in the company, and certain rights in the dendritic cell vaccine technology and corresponding intellectual property have been exclusively licensed by Cedars-Sinai to ImmunoCellular Therapeutics, including rights associated with ICT-107, the vaccine investigated in this clinical study.

Several members of the research and presentation team have ties to the company. Abstract co-author Keith Black, MD, a Cedars-Sinai physician, owns stock in the company. Senior author John Yu, MD, a Cedars-Sinai physician, owns stock in the company and is its founder, chief scientific officer and chair of the board of directors. James Bender, PhD, MPH, a co-author, is Immunocellular Therapeutics' vice president for product development and manufacturing. Elma Hawkins, a co-author, also is identified with Immunocellular.

### Co-authors who do not have relationships with the company include: Surasak Phuphanich, MD, PhD, first author; Christopher Wheeler, PhD; Jeremy Rudnick, MD; Jethro Hu, MD; Mia Mazer; Hong Q. Wang; Miriam Nuno; Cherry Sanchez; Xuemo Fan; Jianfel Ji; and Ray Chu, MD.

Citation: Abstract and poster presentation at Fourth Quadrennial Meeting of the World Federation of Neuro-Oncology, hosted by the Society for Neuro-Oncology, in San Francisco Nov. 21-24. Poster session from 5 to 7 p.m. PST Saturday, Nov. 23: "Long Term Remission Over 5 Years in Patients with Newly Diagnosed Glioblastoma (GBM) Treated with ICT-107 Vaccine: A Follow Up Study."


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

CVD expert calls for mandatory screening of 18 year-old Mexicans

2013-11-23
CVD expert calls for mandatory screening of 18 year-old Mexicans Mexican diet more dangerous than fast food chains Sophia Antipolis, France – 23 November 2013: A cardiovascular disease (CVD) expert is calling for mandatory screening of 18 year-old Mexicans ...

Sugar-sweetened beverage consumption increases endometrial cancer risk

2013-11-23
Sugar-sweetened beverage consumption increases endometrial cancer risk PHILADELPHIA — Postmenopausal women who consumed sugar-sweetened beverages were more likely to develop the most common type of endometrial cancer compared with women who ...

Steroid injections for premature babies linked to mental health risk

2013-11-23
Steroid injections for premature babies linked to mental health risk Steroid injections given to pregnant women before premature birth may increase the child's risk of later behavioural and emotional difficulties, a study has found. Mothers who are expected ...

Acid raid, ozone depletion contributed to ancient extinction

2013-11-23
Acid raid, ozone depletion contributed to ancient extinction Washington, D.C.— Around 250 million years ago, at the end of the Permian period, there was a mass extinction so severe that it remains the most traumatic known species die-off in Earth's history. ...

Greenland's shrunken ice sheet: We've been here before

2013-11-23
Greenland's shrunken ice sheet: We've been here before Clues in the Arctic fossil record suggest that 3-5,000 years ago, the ice sheet was the smallest it has been in the past 10,000 years BUFFALO, N.Y. — Think Greenland's ice sheet is small today? It was smaller ...

'Wise chisels': Art, craftsmanship, and power tools

2013-11-23
'Wise chisels': Art, craftsmanship, and power tools CAMBRIDGE, MA -- It's often easy to tell at a glance the difference between a mass-produced object and one that has been handcrafted: The handmade item is likely to have distinctive imperfections and ...

NASA's solar observing fleet to watch Comet ISON's journey around the sun

2013-11-23
NASA's solar observing fleet to watch Comet ISON's journey around the sun It began in the Oort cloud, almost a light year away. It has traveled for over a million years. It has almost reached the star that has pulled it steadily forward for so ...

Study finds link between allergies and increased risk of blood cancers in women

2013-11-23
Study finds link between allergies and increased risk of blood cancers in women Gender may play a role in the association of chronic immune stimulation and development of hematologic cancers SEATTLE – A team of scientists looking into the interplay ...

Paths not taken: Notch signaling pathway keeps immature T cells on the right track

2013-11-23
Paths not taken: Notch signaling pathway keeps immature T cells on the right track Implications for fighting T-cell leukemias PHILADELPHIA - The lab of Avinash Bhandoola, PhD, professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, has studied ...

Stuck on flu

2013-11-23
Stuck on flu How a sugar-rich mucus barrier traps the virus -- and it gets free to infect Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have shown for the first time how influenza A viruses snip through a protective mucus net ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Exercise as an anti-ageing intervention to avoid detrimental impact of mental fatigue

UMass Amherst Nursing Professor Emerita honored as ‘Living Legend’

New guidelines aim to improve cystic fibrosis screening

Picky eaters by day, buffet by night: Butterfly, moth diets sync to plant aromas

Pennington Biomedical’s Dr. Leanne Redman honored with the E. V. McCollum Award from the American Society for Nutrition

CCNY physicists uncover electronic interactions mediated via spin waves

Researchers’ 3D-printing formula may transform future of foam

Nurture more important than nature for robotic hand

Drug-delivering aptamers target leukemia stem cells for one-two knockout punch

New study finds that over 95% of sponsored influencer posts on Twitter were not disclosed

New sea grant report helps great lakes fish farmers navigate aquaculture regulations

Strain “trick” improves perovskite solar cells’ efficiency

How GPS helps older drivers stay on the roads

Estrogen and progesterone stimulate the body to make opioids

Dancing with the cells – how acoustically levitating a diamond led to a breakthrough in biotech automation

Machine learning helps construct an evolutionary timeline of bacteria

Cellular regulator of mRNA vaccine revealed... offering new therapeutic options

Animal behavioral diversity at risk in the face of declining biodiversity

Finding their way: GPS ignites independence in older adult drivers

Antibiotic resistance among key bacterial species plateaus over time

‘Some insects are declining but what’s happening to the other 99%?’

Powerful new software platform could reshape biomedical research by making data analysis more accessible

Revealing capillaries and cells in living organs with ultrasound

American College of Physicians awards $260,000 in grants to address equity challenges in obesity care

Researchers from MARE ULisboa discover that the European catfish, an invasive species in Portugal, has a prolonged breeding season, enhancing its invasive potential

Rakesh K. Jain, PhD, FAACR, honored with the 2025 AACR Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research

Solar cells made of moon dust could power future space exploration

Deporting immigrants may further shrink the health care workforce

Border region emergency medical services in migrant emergency care

Resident physician intentions regarding unionization

[Press-News.org] Update: 50 percent of patients in Cedars-Sinai brain cancer study alive after 5 years
With standard care, median length of survival is 15 months after diagnosis of glioblastoma multiforme -- and only 10 percent survive more than 5 years