A New Vaccine Trial for Bladder Cancer

New Brunswick, N.J., October 2, 2015 – Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey is one of two sites in the nation offering a clinical trial targeting a specific type of bladder cancer with a vaccine treatment.

The standard care for high grade non-muscle invasive bladder cancer is a treatment known as bacillus Calmette-Guerin or BCG.BCG is a liquid delivered into the bladder through a catheter which is then removed, leaving the medicine inside the bladder.The first dose of BCG is given several weeks after the surgical removal of the cancer in order to prevent the cancer from coming back or growing deeper into the bladder.

BCG has been found to delay bladder cancer from returning, slow the cancer from growing or help bladder cancer patients live longer with their disease.A poxvirus-based cancer treatment called PANVAC has shown to be effective against a number of cancers. Given by injection, it helps stimulate the body’s natural defenses (the immune system) against infection to recognize and destroy tumor cells that produce specific proteins.

Along with the National Cancer Institute, which is the sponsor of this clinical trial, investigators at the Cancer Institute of New Jersey will look at how effective BCG is when combined with PANVAC.

Eric A. Singer, MD, MA, urologic oncologist at the Cancer Institute and assistant professor of surgery at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, is the lead researcher on the study. “Other than a radical cystectomy (surgical removal of the bladder), there are limited options for patients with this type of bladder cancer. By exploring the combined use of existing therapies in a novel way, there is an opportunity to address an unmet need in this patient population,” he said.

Patients aged 18 and older who are diagnosed with high grade non-muscle invasive bladder cancer and failed at least one previous course of BCG are eligible to take part in the clinical trial. Other criteria must also be met. Prior to being accepted into the study, participants would be required to undergo a number of tests including blood work and a physical exam.

Accepted participants will be split into two groups. One group will receive the usual BCG treatment for this type of bladder cancer. The second group will get BCG plus PANVAC. The PANVAC treatment will be given in two steps. An initial vaccine will be given in the beginning of the trial, followed by a boosting shot given during weeks three, 7, 11 and 15. The average time to be on the trial will be 17 to 20 weeks. At the end of that period, participants will undergo an end-of study visit that will include a physical exam, blood work and other testing.

For more information on how to take part in this trial, individuals should call the Cancer Institute’s Office of Human Research Services at 732-235-8675 or e-mail cinjclinicaltrials@cinj.rutgers.edu.

Clinical trials, often called cancer research studies, test new treatments and new ways of using existing treatments for cancer. At the Cancer Institute, researchers use these studies to answer questions about how a treatment affects the human body and to make sure it is safe and effective. There are several types of clinical trials that are currently underway at the Cancer Institute, including those that diagnose, treat, prevent, and manage symptoms of cancer. Many treatments used today, whether they are drugs or vaccines, ways to do surgery or give radiation therapy, or combinations of treatments, are the results of past clinical trials.

As New Jersey’s only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Cancer Institute offers patients access to treatment options not available at other institutions within the state. The Cancer Institute currently enrolls more than 1,200 patients in clinical trials annually, including approximately 17 percent of all new adult cancer patients and approximately 70 percent of all pediatric cancer patients. Enrollment in these studies nationwide is fewer than five percent of all adult cancer patients.