ChemoCentryx commences CCX140 Phase II trial in diabetic nephropathy
May 11, 2017
Each of the two peptide vaccines has already been tested in advanced melanoma patients, either alone, with or without immunological adjuvant, or in other vaccine combinations. These vaccines were well tolerated and were associated with evidence of tumor regression in a minority of patients (5 to 20%). The GM-CT-01 compound has shown initial success in preclinical studies in improving the efficacy of T-lymphocytes in killing cells. GM-CT-01 has proven safe in 100 patients in previous human studies.
There are more than 100,000 individuals around the world diagnosed with melanoma each year. Current treatment options for patients with melanoma include chemotherapy, radiotherapy and immune modulating drugs, all of which have shown limited success in shrinking tumors and extending survival time in a subset of patients with advanced disease. This Phase 1/2 study will test a novel treatment concept: combining active vaccination and immunomodulatory agents to evaluate whether they are safe and have an impact in shrinking or eliminating metastatic melanoma tumors.
"We look forward to enrolling patients in this first-of-its-kind study to examine the impact of inhibiting tumor-secreted galectins for enhancing the ability of the immune system to attack cancer cells and have a therapeutic effect in patients with melanoma," said Prof. Jean-Fran?§ois Baurain of the Cancer Centre at the Cliniques universitaires Saint-Luc, the principal investigator on the trial.
Source: Galectin Therapeutics