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| |  Immunotherapy Shows Promise Against Lung Cancer: Presented at ELCC By Timothy A. O'Leary GENEVA -- April 29, 2008 -- Patients with lung cancer who receive postoperative immune-booster treatment with MAGE-A3 antigen-specific cancer immunotherapeutic (ASCI) are less likely to die or to have their cancers return compared with patients who receive surgery alone, according to research presented here at the 1st European Lung Cancer Conference (ELCC). Johan Vansteenkiste, MD, Associate Professor of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Catholic University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, presented the results of the phase 2, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial here on April 25. The study followed 182 patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC); 122 of these patients received MAGE-A3 ASCI and 66 patients received placebo. After a median follow-up of 44 months, there were 69 cancer recurrences and 57 deaths. Patients who received the injections of MAGE-A3 ASCI had longer delays in cancer recurrence, were less likely to have any recurrence, and were less likely to die. Group comparisons of disease-free interval, disease-free survival, and overall survival showed results that were in favour of MAGE-A3 ASCI treatment (hazard ratios, 0.75, 0.76, and 0.81, respectively; P < .127). "Surgical resection is the standard treatment for patients with early-stage lung cancer, but after complete resection, about 50% will relapse and die from their cancer," Dr. Vansteenkiste said. "Postoperative chemotherapy is able to improve cure rates but is sometimes poorly tolerated by patients recovering from thoracic surgery. In addition, not all patients are fit to receive chemotherapy. This is why the signal from this phase 2 randomised study is important. The reduction in risk of postoperative cancer relapse is similar to the one obtained from postoperative chemotherapy, while the side effects of this new strategy are minimal compared to chemotherapy," he said. The injections of MAGE-A3 ASCI were administered over 27 months. The first 5 injections were administered at 3-week intervals, the last 8 injections were given every 3 months. "The aim is to help the body immune system to recognise the MAGE-A3 antigen and therefore eliminate the cancer cells that express MAGE-A3," Dr. Vansteenkiste explained. "In other words, it is a kind of treatment method that makes the body immune system specifically attack the lung cancer cells." Most patients experience only mild reactions at the injection site and fever within 24 hours of the injection, he said. "Therefore, it is suitable for long-term maintenance treatment and for most patients -- including older patients or patients in weak physical condition after surgery -- allowing them to live a normal life while on cancer treatment," he said. A large phase 3 trial of the treatment is underway.
[Presentation title: Phase II Randomized Study of MAGE-A3 Immunotherapy as Adjuvant Therapy in Stage IB/II Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC): 44-Month Follow-Up, Humoral and Cellular Immune Response Data. Abstract 148O]
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