Advaxis: First cervical cancer patient treated with live Listeria vaccine in phase 1/2 trial

By E. Janene Geiss

Philadelphia, May 8 - Advaxis Inc. said Monday that the first patient was treated with an engineered live Listeria vaccine in the company's phase 1/2 clinical trial of Lovaxin C, a Listeria-based therapeutic cancer vaccine developed to treat cervical cancer.

This is the first human study by Advaxis in its proposed development of a new class of cancer therapies, according to a company news release.

The trial, taking place in Serbia, Israel and Mexico, will enroll 20 cervical cancer patients and is expected to last about six months.

It is expected that this first-in-man trial of a live Listeria cancer vaccine will demonstrate the ability to give therapeutic concentrations of Lovaxin C safely.

Central to Lovaxin C vaccine is the microbe Listeria monocytogenes, a bacterium found in dairy products, officials said.

This common microorganism has been found to help fight cancer by activating the body's own killer cells - cytotoxic T cells - to induce a stronger immune response to the presence of cancer cells, officials said.

The Lovaxin C vaccine teaches the immune system to mount a specialized, targeted response lethal to cervical cancer, officials said.

An interesting use of Lovaxin C, should it prove effective, could be used to treat early stage disease at the point where a pap smear indicated that cervical dysplasia was transforming into cervical neoplasia, officials said.

"Lovaxin C might prevent the transformation into cancer and provide protection against recurrence, replacing the need for surgical intervention," John Rothman, Advaxis' vice president of clinical development, said in the release.

More than 12,000 new cases of cervical cancer are reported in the United States annually, although pap smears and surgery have reduced the associated mortality, the disease strikes particularly hard other parts of the world.

Advaxis is a North Brunswick, N.J., developer of live cancer vaccines based on modified, attenuated Listeria monocytogenes.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.