Improved TB vaccine is expected to prevent recurrence of bladder cancer

February 27, 2020 / BIOON / -- human immune system can not only recognize and kill bacteria, but also kill cancer cells That's why treatment with weak bacteria can help the immune system fight cancer Researchers at the Max Planck Institute of infectious biology in Berlin genetically engineered BCG to stimulate the immune system more specifically Therefore, the new vaccine provides better protection for tuberculosis A clinical study of bladder cancer patients shows that vpm1002 treatment can successfully prevent tumor recurrence, and almost half of them have no response to BCG treatment before As a result, vpm1002 may be approved for the treatment of bladder cancer so that as many patients as possible can quickly benefit from it At the end of the 19th century, doctors observed that some cancer patients had smaller tumors if they were infected with bacteria and had a high fever These findings have sparked interest in cancer immunotherapy Immunomodulatory therapy can specifically stimulate the immune system As a result, the body's own immune system is supported in the fight against cancer, resulting in a reduction in the size of the tumor BCG vaccine, introduced in 1920s, contains the weakened pathogen of bovine tuberculosis, which can also be transmitted to human beings Experiments in the 1970s showed that BCG is also effective for bladder cancer, which is one of the most common cancer diseases in Europe Image source: MPI for infection biology - CF microscopy Volker Brinkmann uses attenuated bacteria to treat bladder cancer Although BCG has developed into a standard therapy for bladder cancer, the immunotherapy for solid tumors often has little effect During this treatment, the bladder was repeatedly flushed with weakened bacteria for six weeks This triggers an immune response that, although not specifically aimed at tumors, may activate the body's own killer cells, which in turn recognize and specifically kill altered tumor cells However, the proportion of patients who completely overcome cancer after BCG treatment is very low In addition, there are serious side effects, such as fever, incontinence or flu like symptoms, which make many patients stop treatment early However, 30% to 40% of patients will relapse In this case, the bladder must be completely removed as a last resort Vaccine development Stefan Kaufmann of the Max Planck Institute of infectious biology in Berlin and his colleagues further developed BCG vaccine The researchers improved the weakened TB bacteria in a way that the immune system could recognize them more easily "The new vaccine vpm1002 is absorbed by phagocytes in the immune system like a BCG vaccine and can then better identify their targets - tuberculosis bacteria and cancer cells," Kaufmann explained This improved vpm1002 has been shown to improve the protection against tuberculosis bacterial infection The University of Basel hospital and the Swiss clinical cancer research group (SAKK) are studying whether vpm1002 can be used to avoid bladder cancer in patients with bladder cancer The first phase of the study showed that the new vaccine was safe and well tolerated Patients with recurrent bladder cancer after tumor resection and subsequent standard BCG treatment were treated in the phase II study "More than 49% of patients treated with vpm1002 had no tumor in their bladder after 60 weeks," said Leander Grote, who developed vpm1002 with Stefan Kaufmann and is now general manager of vakzine Projekt management GmbH (VPM) Patients without tumor should avoid bladder removal Rapid approval of this result encourages developers to apply for regulatory approval as soon as possible Therefore, bladder cancer patients who no longer respond to traditional treatment can benefit from new drugs as soon as possible If they respond to vpm1002 treatment, bladder removal can be avoided At present, the research team is planning to negotiate with the European Medicines Agency to obtain approval across Europe as soon as possible ISRI is a strong partner in the rapid production of the required number of drugs, and its strategy is to further study cancer treatment "I am very satisfied with the results of vpm1002 in bladder cancer treatment We will be able to provide high volume and consistent product supply in a unique way, which can meet the needs of bladder cancer patients all over the world "Said ADAR C poonawalla, CEO of siipl The vaccine vpm1002 is based on technology licensed by Max Planck innovation, a technology transfer organization of the Max Planck Society "We are very pleased to find a suitable authorizer in VPM to further develop the research results of Max Planck Institute Although VPM was not a mature vaccine company at that time, it successfully responded to typical development obstacles and setbacks, proving the effectiveness and safety of bladder cancer vaccine We hope that based on these results, patients will be treated effectively soon (BIOON Com) reference: modified tuberculosis vaccine as a therapy for BlackBerry cancer