Trial of Bi-shRNA-furin and GMCSF Augmented Autologous Tumor Cell Vaccine for Advanced Cancer

Summary

Autologous Vigil™ vaccine expresses rhGMCSF and bi-shRNAfurin from the Vigil™ plasmid. The GMCSF protein is a potent stimulator of the immune system, recruiting immune effectors to the site of intradermal injection and promoting antigen presentation. The furin bifunctional shRNA blocks furin protein production at the post transcriptional and translational levels. This decrease in furin in turn decreases the conversion of the proforms TGFβ1 and TGFβ2 proteins. Also, reduced furin protein levels have a negative feedback inhibition on TGFβ1 and TGFβ2 gene expression, decreasing the levels of their mRNAs. The resulting decrease in TGFβ1 and TGFβ2 proteins reduces the local immunosuppression they cause and promotes tumor surface antigen and MHC protein display.

Timeline

Start

2009-12

Primary completion

2018-12-06

Completion

2019-01

Publications

• Background Nemunaitis J, Barve M, Orr D, Kuhn J, Magee M, Lamont J, Bedell C, Wallraven G, Pappen BO, Roth A, Horvath S, Nemunaitis D, Kumar P, Maples PB, Senzer N. Summary of bi-shRNA/GM-CSF augmented autologous tumor cell immunotherapy (FANG) in advanced cancer of the liver. Oncology. 2014;87(1):21-9. doi: 10.1159/000360993. Epub 2014 Jun 25.
• Results Senzer N, Barve M, Kuhn J, Melnyk A, Beitsch P, Lazar M, Lifshitz S, Magee M, Oh J, Mill SW, Bedell C, Higgs C, Kumar P, Yu Y, Norvell F, Phalon C, Taquet N, Rao DD, Wang Z, Jay CM, Pappen BO, Wallraven G, Brunicardi FC, Shanahan DM, Maples PB, Nemunaitis J. Phase I trial of "bi-shRNAi(furin)/GMCSF DNA/autologous tumor cell" vaccine (FANG) in advanced cancer. Mol Ther. 2012 Mar;20(3):679-86. doi: 10.1038/mt.2011.269. Epub 2011 Dec 20.
• Results Ghisoli M, Barve M, Mennel R, Lenarsky C, Horvath S, Wallraven G, Pappen BO, Whiting S, Rao D, Senzer N, Nemunaitis J. Three-year Follow up of GMCSF/bi-shRNA(furin) DNA-transfected Autologous Tumor Immunotherapy (Vigil) in Metastatic Advanced Ewing's Sarcoma. Mol Ther. 2016 Aug;24(8):1478-83. doi: 10.1038/mt.2016.86. Epub 2016 Apr 25.
• Results Ghisoli M, Barve M, Schneider R, Mennel R, Lenarsky C, Wallraven G, Pappen BO, LaNoue J, Kumar P, Nemunaitis D, Roth A, Nemunaitis J, Whiting S, Senzer N, Fletcher FA, Nemunaitis J. Pilot Trial of FANG Immunotherapy in Ewing's Sarcoma. Mol Ther. 2015 Jun;23(6):1103-1109. doi: 10.1038/mt.2015.43. Epub 2015 Mar 19.
• Results Oh J, Barve M, Senzer N, Aaron P, Manning L, Wallraven G, Bognar E, Stanbery L, Horvath S, Manley M, Nemunaitis J, Walter A, Rocconi RP. Long-term follow-up of Phase 2A trial results involving advanced ovarian cancer patients treated with Vigil(R) in frontline maintenance. Gynecol Oncol Rep. 2020 Sep 17;34:100648. doi: 10.1016/j.gore.2020.100648. eCollection 2020 Nov. No abstract available.
• Results Rocconi RP, Stanbery L, Madeira da Silva L, Barrington RA, Aaron P, Manning L, Horvath S, Wallraven G, Bognar E, Walter A, Nemunaitis J. Long-Term Follow-Up of Gemogenovatucel-T (Vigil) Survival and Molecular Signals of Immune Response in Recurrent Ovarian Cancer. Vaccines (Basel). 2021 Aug 12;9(8):894. doi: 10.3390/vaccines9080894.

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