So
here we go with some medical jargon. Please try and keep up. It’s important and
fascinating stuff. I must warn you, though, it is complicated. But bear with
me.
The clinical trial that I have enrolled in involves a vaccine, called TPIV200, and is based on a theory that your immune system is the key in fighting cancer. Much like when you have a cold, it is your immune system – and the health and strength of your immune system – that fights off your cold and rids your body of the symptoms and germs of a cold
The clinical trial that I have enrolled in involves a vaccine, called TPIV200, and is based on a theory that your immune system is the key in fighting cancer. Much like when you have a cold, it is your immune system – and the health and strength of your immune system – that fights off your cold and rids your body of the symptoms and germs of a cold
Ok, so a bit about your immune system. According
to Dictionary.com, “your immune
system consists of lymphocytes – or T cells - developed in the thymus, that circulate in the blood and lymph system and orchestrate the immune system's response to infected or malignant cells, either by lymphokine secretions or by direct contact.
“Helper T cells” recognize foreign antigen on the surfaces of other cells, then they stimulate B cells to produce antibody and signal “killer T cells” to destroy the antigen-displaying cells. Subsequently “suppressor T cells” return the immune system to normal by inactivating the B cells and killer T cells.” Wow!. Did you have any idea all this was going
on inside your body when your nose begins to run, and you feel like crap?
Still with me? Alright. Now we go even deeper into the molecular level. Hang tight. From
Cancer.gov: “Folate Receptor alpha
(FRa) is a protein and a member of the folate receptor family; this receptor is
overexpressed in a majority of ovarian cancers and in about 50% of breast
cancers – including Triple Negative Breast Cancer - and is associated with
cancer recurrence”.
Oky doky. Now that we have some background from which this vaccine was formed.....From
the company who developed the vaccine: “TPIV200 is a multi-epitope,
peptide-based cancer vaccine that has been shown to induce a robust and
long-lasting “memory” T-cell immune response directed against folate receptor
alpha (FRa), a molecule that is overexpressed on the surface of the vast
majority of TNBC cancer cells and is associated with cancer recurrence. TPIV200
is uniquely able to stimulate both “helper” T cells and “killer” T cells to
target tumor cells…”
I
truly believe this is the future of cancer treatments. Stimulating your own
immune system to hunt down, target, and kill cancer cells. I’m excited to be a
participant in this trial. As with any clinical trial, no one knows if this
vaccine will work. The trial is set up to test a theory. A strong theory, but just
a theory none the less.
I
am involved in the second stage of this trial, which began recruiting participants
in early 2018. Phase One of the study – which completed in 2017 and published
results in early 2018 - showed that 90% of the participants developed a “robust
and durable” immune response against FRa, and that the vaccine was well-tolerated”.
Pretty good so far...now, to see if it works!
Phase
two of the trial is looking to enlist 280 participants and is sponsored by Mayo
Clinic. Keith L. Knutson. Ph.D., Professor of Immunology in the Department of
Immunology, and Edith A. Perez, M.D., Professor of Medicine in the Division of
Hematology and Oncology, both at Mayo Clinic’s Florida campus in Jacksonville,
Florida. The University of Miami's Sylvester Cancer Center, where I
receive treatment, is one of several satellite locations around the country for
the trial.
The
Mayo Clinic received $13.3 million in grant funding from the U.S. Department of
Defense (DoD). Yep, that’s right, the Department of Defense. Strange funder, you say? Well, perhaps not. According to the National Breast Cancer
Coalition, “the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program (DOD BCRP)
was created in 1992 as a result of the National Breast Cancer
Coalition’s “$300 Million More” campaign to increase federal funding for breast
cancer research. Due to the efforts of the National Breast Cancer Coalition and
the leadership of Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Alfonse D’Amato (R-NY) in
FY1993 Congress appropriated $210 million in the DOD research and development
budget for a breast cancer peer reviewed research program administered by the
Department of the Army.
DOD BCRP’s unique grant structure
allows it to fund innovative, high-risk, high-return research and quickly
respond to current scientific advances. In addition, the DOD BCRP can fill gaps
by focusing on areas of research that are promising but otherwise underfunded. 90%
of the appropriated funding goes directly to competitive, peer-reviewed
research grants awarded to the best science. And it has produced extraordinary results. From new methods of extracting
breast cancer cells at their earliest stages, to unprecedented research into
gene/environment interaction, to quality of life issues, the DOD BCRP leads the
way in generating new approaches to breast cancer prevention and treatment. It
has produced fascinating insights into the biology of breast cancer and has
directly impacted lives through the research it has funded, such as the
revolutionary work that led to the development of the innovative drug
Herceptin.”
Ironically, I was a young staff in
Senator Harkin’s office in 1992. Karma has a fascinating way about it, doesn’t
it? -------------
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