Vaccine Clinical Trials

amccreery · 10-26-2006, 08:54 AM

My oncologist referred me to U of W to participate in the HER2neu trial. I am stage 4 (BRCA2, HER2neu+, ER+, PR+) with stable bone-only mets. She thought the HER2neu trial would be more beneficial than the TroVax trial because it targets HER2neu. But after I read some posts on this site about the new virus-based vaccine, I asked her again and she said she couldn't make a recommendation.

Does anyone have insight into which trial might be more beneficial?

Thank you,

Alison

rinaina · 10-26-2006, 12:57 PM

All this talk about trials is making me wonder, should all her2+ breast cancers get into trials? I am early stage, stage I, node negative, er/pr negative. I just completed chemo, 4 a/c, 33 rads, and doing herceptin for a year which began on Sept 11 of this year. I thought trials were only for those who have had reoccurences. Can someone shed some light on this for me please. Thank you.

Lolly · 10-26-2006, 03:11 PM

Hi Rinaina,
Depends on the trial criteria. Some are designed to accept early stager'ers, some late stager'ers. You could go to the trials page on this site (Joe has provided a link above), access the links provided, and start reading the criteria of the various trials!...Michele U who posted above is an early stage'er.

Barbara2 · 10-26-2006, 03:47 PM

I recently have had some correspondence with someone from the U of Washington regarding their vaccine trial. In order take part in this trial you need to be stage lll or IV. I don't understand why stage 1 or 2 are not included in these trials. It's been said that perhaps vaccines will be most useful for patients whose cancer is in remission, but who are high risk of relapse from minimal residual disease. Yet in order to be eligible for trials, studies, etc, you need to be in stage III or IV neihter of which are not considered an "early" stage of cancer. This doesn't make sense to me.

I thought perhaps I might qualify as I was less than 1/2 centimeter from a 5 cm tumor, which is considered stage III. I just sent off an email to Washington this afternoon with a few more questions, but I doubt that I will make the cut.

One of my questions to her was, how does the U of Washington vaccine trial differ from the one at Windber PA. I have read that there are two types of vaccine strategies currently being tested in patients with breast cancer:
1.Cell-based vaccines
2.Breast cancer antigen specific vaccines.

I asked her if she could tell me what the difference was between the vaccines these two facilities were offering. I believe the U of Wash uses a plasmid-based vaccine, GM-CSF. Windber's E75 vaccine is made from the Her2/neu proten, and GM-CSF. But what is the REAL difference? They are similiar sounding, but there's probably more to it than is obvious in the description. She will check into it and let me know.

Patients with breast cancer are encouraged to enroll in clinicl trials attempting to improve vaccine therapy. The criteria needs to be tweeked a little so more of us can get in........

StephN · 10-26-2006, 05:41 PM

When looking at these various vaccine trials, notice that there are various categories of the type of vaccine. Some are DNA based, some are going for another target. The U of W has at least three vaccine trials and those who post here have been in at least two different trials.
The confusion is easy to understand.

The latest one not yet out will be TROVAX (virus based), about which Lolly posted my last post. It is not yet available, and my med onc said not until after the new year does she expect to have it to offer her patients. This vaccine will not be limited to breast cancer patients, so is taking longer to get through all the approvals.

When communicating with Patty Fintak, try to be specific about what you are aking about. If you give her some basic info she can tell you which trial you should be looking at.

rinaina · 10-30-2006, 12:57 PM

I am curious as to whether or not early stagers who have no history of reoccurences or metastisis' at all ever qualify for any trials or is it only those who have had reoccurences or metastisis'? I am all about doing whatever one can to help research as well as ourselves and I know once I complete Herceptin I will probably go through an anxious period of "NOW WHAT"!

Barbara2 · 10-30-2006, 08:58 PM

Rinaina, they will take stage III patients, which is not cancer that has metastisized. They also take stage IV, metastasis.

I am in the "What now?" stage and very much wish they would accept the lower stages of cancer.

Lolly · 10-30-2006, 10:15 PM

Keep an eye out for Phase III on these trials, at that point they'll probably be taking early stager'ers.

Lani · 10-31-2006, 09:47 AM

I think the Windber trial is available for early stage patients similar to you.

The question which someone else might be able to answer is whether they have started the trial which allows the patinet to be on/to have had Herceptin as well.

If you want to read the early results google PubMed and put in Peoples G (for George Peoples the principal investigator of the trial) The Windber trial and the Walter Reed trial are the same, it is just you have to be military related to get into Walter Reed, as I understand it

Hope this helps