GI-4000 With Adoptive Transfer in Pancreatic Cancer

Pancreatic Cancer Clinical Trial

Official title: Pilot Study Of Safety And Feasibility Of GI-4000, An Inactivated Recombinant Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Expressing Mutant Ras Protein Combined With Adoptive Transfer And Chemoradiation in Locally Advanced Pancreatic Cancer

Status Withdrawn

Clinical Trial Summary

The purpose of this study is to determine if it is safe to add multiple immunotherapies to standard chemotherapy and radiation for treating pancreatic cancer tumors that cannot be completely removed by surgery.

1. GI-4000 Vaccination:

The first involves a "vaccine," which is an injection (shot) that teaches your immune system to attack foreign invaders. The vaccine we will use is called "GI-4000" - a vaccine composed of yeast that is made to carry the same proteins (called "mutated Ras proteins") found in some pancreatic cancer cells.

2. Adoptive T-cell Transfer:

The second type of immunotherapy in this study is called "adoptive T-cell transfer." This involves collecting a specific type of white blood cells from you (called "T-cells")and growing T-cells grown in a lab which may help the research participants' immune systems recover more quickly after chemotherapy, and possibly improved response to other immunotherapies.

We hope that studying these agents together will teach us how to help the immune system fight pancreatic cancer.

Clinical Trial Description

This Phase I/Pilot study will assess the safety and feasibility of the GI-4000 series vaccine with or without adoptive T cell transfer in subjects with locally advanced pancreatic cancer undergoing chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgical resection. Subjects will be randomized to either ARM A (GI-4000vaccine) or ARM B (GI-4000 vaccine and activated T cell transfer). All subjects will undergo apheresis of mononuclear cells immediately before receiving four cycles of gemcitabine/oxaliplatin (GemOx) chemotherapy ("immune preservation phase"). After the completion of chemotherapy, the apheresis product will be reinfused, and the subjects will enter the "priming phase," in which two biweekly doses (dose #1 and #2) of the appropriate GI-4000 vaccine (the one that best matches the mutations found in the patient's tumor) and a single dose of the Prevnar pneumococcal conjugate vaccine will be administered. At this time, those subjects who have not developed distant metastatic disease by CT/MRI will undergo chemoradiation, with ARM B subjects receiving a second apheresis immediately prior to the initiation of the chemoradiation. The pheresed product will be activated and expanded ex vivo and reinfused after chemoradiation is completed. All subjects will receive two more biweekly boosts of the GI-4000 vaccine (doses #3 and #4) while undergoing restaging with CT/MRI ("boosting phase"). Those who have not developed metastatic disease will undergo surgical evaluation for tumor resection. Patients who undergo R0 or R1 resection will receive up to three more weekly doses of GI-4000 prior to the initiation of adjuvant gemcitabine, monthly doses of GI-4000 during the four cycles of gemcitabine chemotherapy, and monthly GI-4000 doses thereafter. At the end of gemcitabine chemotherapy, apheresis will be performed for endpoint correlative studies. Those who are not candidates for surgery or whose tumors are not completely resected will continue to receive GI-4000 monthly booster vaccination. ;

Study Design

Allocation: Non-Randomized, Endpoint Classification: Safety/Efficacy Study, Intervention Model: Single Group Assignment, Masking: Open Label, Primary Purpose: Treatment

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Pancreatic Cancer
• Pancreatic Neoplasms

• NCT number: NCT00837135
• Study type: Interventional
• Source: University of Pennsylvania
• Status: Withdrawn
• Phase: Phase 1
• Start date: January 2008
• Completion date: October 2009