Tumor Cell Vaccines With ISCOMATRIX Adjuvant and Celecoxib in Patients Undergoing Resection of Lung and Esophageal Cancers and Malignant Pleural Mesotheliomas

Lung Cancer Clinical Trial

Official title: Epigenetically-Modified Autologous Tumor Cell Vaccines With ISCOMATRIX(TM) Adjuvant and Oral Celecoxib in Patients Undergoing Resection of Lung and Esophageal Cancers, Thymic Neoplasms, Thoracic Sarcomas, and Malignant Pleural Mesotheliomas

Status Terminated

Clinical Trial Summary

Background:

• Recent research has shown that causing an immune response to tumor cells may help slow or stop the growth of tumors. One treatment that has come from this research involves collecting and modifying a cancer patient's tumor cells in the laboratory, then returning the cells to the patient as a vaccine to encourage the immune system to respond to them. Researchers are interested in testing tumor cell vaccines with an experimental drug called ISCOMATRIX , which can be added to a vaccine in order to elicit a stronger immune response in the body. ISCOMATRIX has not been approved for sale and use in any country and its use is still experimental, though it has been tested and used safely in other clinical studies. Researchers are also interested in determining whether the anti-inflammatory drug celecoxib will improve the body's immune reaction if given with the vaccine.

Objectives:

• To assess the safety and effectiveness of tumor cell vaccines given with ISCOMATRIX and celecoxib in the treatment of lung and esophagus cancers.

Eligibility:

• Individuals at least 18 years of age who have primary small cell or non-small cell lung cancer, esophageal cancer, or pleural mesothelioma that can be removed by surgery.

• Only individuals whose tumor cells are able to produce a tumor cell line for vaccine development will be eligible for treatment.

Design:

• Participants will be screened with a physical examination and medical history, and will have tumor tissue collected during their surgery to determine whether the tumor cells can be used to produce a vaccine.

• Participants will take celecoxib twice daily for 7 days before having the first tumor cell vaccination. Participants will also have leukapheresis to collect blood cells for testing before the first vaccination.

• Participants will receive one vaccine (which may be given in two shots) monthly for 6 months, and will continue to take celecoxib twice daily. One month after the 6th vaccine shot, participants will have another leukapheresis and skin test. If these tests show that a participant is responding to the vaccine, additional vaccines will be given every 3 months for up to 2 years.

• Participants will have a physical exam and lab tests before each vaccination, blood samples and imaging studies every 3 months, and a skin test every 6 months.

• Participants will have regular followup visits with imaging studies and blood samples for up to 5 years after the first vaccination, or until a new tumor develops.

Clinical Trial Description

Background:

• Cancer-testis (CT) antigens have emerged as attractive targets for cancer immunotherapy. Whereas lung and esophageal cancers, thymic Neoplasms, primary thoracic sarcomas, as well as malignant pleural mesotheliomas express a variety of CT antigens, primary or vaccine-induced immune responses to these antigens appear uncommon in patients with these malignancies, possibly due to low-level, heterogeneous antigen expression, and inadequate vaccination strategies.

• Because numerous CT antigens can be induced in tumor cells by DNA demethylating agents and HDAC inhibitors, it is conceivable that vaccination of cancer patients with autologous tumor cells exposed to chromatin remodeling agents will enhance anti-tumor immunity in these individuals.

• In order to examine this issue, patients with resectable primary neoplasms involving the lungs, esophagus, or pleura will be vaccinated with autologous tumor cells exposed exvivo to decitabine and radiation following completion of appropriate combined modality therapy. Vaccine will be administered in conjunction with ISCOMATRIX adjuvant and oral celecoxib.

Primary Objective:

• To assess the safety of an epigenetically modified autologous tumor cell vaccine in conjunction with celecoxib.

Eligibility:

• Patients with histologically or cytologically proven or clinically evident primary pulmonary carcinoma or sarcoma, esophageal cancer, thymic carcinoma or malignant pleural mesothelioma undergoing resection of their neoplasms.

• Patients must be 18 years or older with an ECOG performance status of 0 2, with adequate pulmonary and cardiac function and laboratory values within normal limits.

Design:

• Patients with operable lung and esophageal carcinoma/sarcoma, thymoma, thymic carcinoma or malignant pleural mesothelioma will undergo resection of their malignancies at the NCI.

• Portions of the resected tumors will be transferred to the Thoracic Oncology Laboratory and cells will be processed to establish a cancer cell line.

• Following recovery from surgery and appropriate adjuvant chemotherapy and/or radiation, patients will be vaccinated with epigenetically-modified autologous tumor cells periodically over 6 months in conjunction with oral celecoxib.

• Systemic toxicities and delayed type hypersensitivity responses to autologous tumor cells and serologic responses to a variety of CT antigens will be assessed before and after vaccination.

• Patients will be followed with routine staging scans until disease recurrence.

• As the exact set of comparisons and analyses to be performed will be determined following completion of the trial, and will be based on limited numbers of patients, the analyses will be considered exploratory and hypothesis generating rather than definitive.

• Approximately 120 patients will be accrued to this trial in order to obtain up to 30 evaluable patients. ;

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Esophageal Cancer
• Esophageal Neoplasms
• Lung Cancer
• Mesolthelioma
• Mesothelioma
• Sarcoma
• Thoracic Sarcomas
• Thymoma

• NCT number: NCT01258868
• Study type: Interventional
• Source: National Institutes of Health Clinical Center (CC)
• Status: Terminated
• Phase: Phase 1
• Start date: December 1, 2010
• Completion date: June 13, 2016