Lineage Cell Therapeutics and Cancer Research UK have announced encouraging primary and secondary endpoint results from their clinical study of VAC2 in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Five of eight patients treated (62.5%) had a best response of immune-related stable disease, and three (37.5%) demonstrated immune-related progressive disease. Overall, VAC2 was well-tolerated, there were no unexpected SAEs, and there were no dose limiting toxicities.
The Phase I study was a first-in-human trial to investigate safety, immunogenicity, and survival in patients with advanced NSCLC (defined as metastatic or locally advanced disease) when administered the allogeneic dendritic cell (DC) vaccine VAC2.
VAC2 DC cells have been engineered to present hTERT, a tumour-associated antigen found almost exclusively in cancer cells, and it is postulated that VAC2 will stimulate an immunogenic anti-tumour CD4+/CD8+ T cell response toward hTERT expressed on tumour cells.
“The unmet medical need in refractory NSCLC is significant and results from recent clinical trials support the investigation of cancer vaccines as a promising approach to treating this disease. The immunogenicity data reported to date are also encouraging and supportive of the clinical observations we noted in the patients,” stated Professor Gary Middleton, Professor of Medical Oncology, Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy, The University of Birmingham, UK.
Brian Culley, Chief Executive Officer of Lineage, added: “We have completed clinical studies using three separate cell types in dramatically different diseases; geographic atrophy secondary to dry-form age-related macular degeneration, spinal cord injury, and most recently, NSCLC. The overall safety and efficacy data from these studies affirm our belief in the potential for allogeneic cell therapy to address some of the most serious medical needs, which unfortunately remain unaddressed by conventional approaches.”
