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Greenville Hospital System researchers excited by melanoma treatment

Submitted by: John Warner on Mar 10, 2003 at 6:00 am Tagged with: General Archives Source:

Swamp Fox

GHS researchers excited by melanoma treatment
Posted Monday, March 10, 2003 - 2:31 am

By Liv Osby
The Greenvile News
HEALTH WRITER
losby@greenvillenews.com

Researchers at Greenville Hospital System's cancer institute believe they are
close to finding a treatment for malignant melanoma — so close that hospital
officials formed a new company last week to market it and other therapies
developed there.
For the past few years, Thomas E. Wagner, director of GHS's Oncology Research
Institute, and a team of scientists led by Yanzhang Wei have been fusing
patients' own cancer cells with other cells to form a vaccine that triggers the
body's immune system to destroy the tumor.
A Phase I clinical trial of 10 patients with end-stage melanoma, the most
serious form of the disease, showed the safety of the therapy, Wagner said. But
it also produced some leads.
"It's like going out and spending four days looking for moose, and then
spotting moose tracks," he said. "We've got a bit of the problem pried open
here, and even though it's only been a few patients, we're very excited about
it."
The researchers found that removing as much of the cancer as possible up front
followed by the vaccine provides the one-two punch that may keep the malignancy
in check. One of their patients, who had just a few months to live, is now
disease-free, he said. Another has had partial remission. Even the patients who
didn't survive lived 12 to 18 months longer than expected.
The team has just begun a Phase II clinical trial of the vaccine's
effectiveness on 60 patients, he said, and the first patient treated has shown
a good immune response as well.
Wagner, who cautions that the vaccine is still experimental, said the process
also can be used for kidney cancer. He will present the findings at a national
immunotherapy symposium at the Salk Institute in California next week.
In another area of research, led by molecular biologist Wen Y. Chen, breast
cancer is being tackled with a protein that is thought to stop the spread of
the disease, Wagner said. A Phase I clinical trial of six patients is ready to
go as soon as the federal Food and Drug Administration approves it, he said.
And a third substance, made from a protein in bee venom, is being investigated
as a treatment for prostate cancer in a study led by Xianzhong Yu, Wagner said.
A Phase I trial could begin on that therapy in six to eight months.
The researchers have applied for 16 patents, he said.
Wagner said he's frustrated that a lack of funds has meant slow going. Without
additional support, the Phase II melanoma trial would take at least an
additional six months, and require the services of everyone now at the
institute. That means they couldn't pursue other new therapies.
"I don't want my brightest scientists tied up doing development work," he said,
"but basic research."
The new corporation will provide the money and staff to carry out development
and marketing while Wagner and his team continue their research. It will own
all intellectual property.
The GHC Research Development Corp. will be operated under the umbrella of
Greenville Health Corp., GHS's for-profit arm. The hospital stands to make
money from the venture, but not until the treatments are proven, developed and
taken to market, Wagner said.
The start-up for such a company will cost many millions of dollars, he said.
But interest has already been expressed by several pharmaceutical companies as
well as some other investors, said Dr. Jerry Youkey, vice president of medical
and academic services.
BART BOATWRIGHT • / • StaffResearch team: Members of the Greenville Memorial
Hospital Cancer Research Institute, from left, Dr. Xianzhong Yu, Dr. Wen Chen
and Dr. Yanzhang Wei are shown with institute director Dr. Tom Wagner in the
research lab. Their experimental treatment for malignant melanoma is a vaccine
that stimulates the body's immune response.