Bivalent Vaccine With Escalating Doses of the Immunological Adjuvant OPT-821, in Combination With Oral β-glucan for High-Risk Neuroblastoma

Summary

In the first part of this study we found the highest dose of the vaccine that did not have too many side effects. We are now trying to find out what effects the vaccine has when given at the same dose to all patients. The main treatment in this protocol is a vaccine. It is called a " bivalent vaccine" which means it has 2 antigens. An antigen is a specific protein on the surface of a cell. The antigens are called GD2L and GD3L. We want the vaccine to cause the patient's immune system to make antibodies against the antigens. Antibodies are made by the body to attack cancer (and to fight infections). If the patient can make antibodies against the 2 antigens in the vaccine, those antibodies might also attach to neuroblastoma cells because a lot of each antigen is on neuroblastoma (and very little on other parts of the body). Then, the attached antibodies would attract the patient's white blood cells to kill the neuroblastoma. This protocol also uses β-glucan which is a kind of sugar from yeast. β-glucan is taken by mouth and can help white blood cells kill cancer. The best way to get the body to make antibodies against the 2 antigens is to link each antigen to a protein called KLH (which stands for: keyhole limpet hemocyanin) and to mix them with a substance called QS-21. But it is hard to get enough QS-21 so we are using an identical substance called OPT-821, which we can get easily in large amounts for use in patients.

Timeline

Start

2009-05-27

Primary completion

2027-05

Completion

2027-05

Publications

• Cheung IY, Mauguen A, Modak S, Ragupathi G, Basu EM, Roberts SS, Kushner BH, Cheung NK. Effect of Oral beta-Glucan on Antibody Response to Ganglioside Vaccine in Patients With High-Risk Neuroblastoma: A Phase 2 Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Oncol. 2023 Feb 1;9(2):242-250. doi: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2022.5999.
• Cheung IY, Cheung NV, Modak S, Mauguen A, Feng Y, Basu E, Roberts SS, Ragupathi G, Kushner BH. Survival Impact of Anti-GD2 Antibody Response in a Phase II Ganglioside Vaccine Trial Among Patients With High-Risk Neuroblastoma With Prior Disease Progression. J Clin Oncol. 2021 Jan 20;39(3):215-226. doi: 10.1200/JCO.20.01892. Epub 2020 Dec 16.
• Kushner BH, Cheung IY, Modak S, Kramer K, Ragupathi G, Cheung NK. Phase I trial of a bivalent gangliosides vaccine in combination with beta-glucan for high-risk neuroblastoma in second or later remission. Clin Cancer Res. 2014 Mar 1;20(5):1375-82. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-13-1012. Epub 2014 Feb 11.

Drugs

Indications