Prostate cancer

The inducing course of immunotherapy consists of 10 subcutaneous vaccinations (five at weekly and five at fortnight intervals) and takes about 3 months. The supporting vaccination schedule is determined by both a disease stage and a health state of a patient. The treatment is conducted on an outpatient basis.

The vaccine-induced, immune processes destroy the tumor cells and suppress the development of residual disease.

Xenogenic polyantigenic vaccine (XPV) is sterile.

The development of an influenza-like syndrome in the form of a body temperature rise up to 38°, but also and musculoskeletal discomfort are possible. Those symptoms are usually self-limited. The immunotherapy has no side effects attributable to chemoradiotherapy.

Xenovaccinotherapy of prostate cancer

Therapeutic vaccination is a strategy that uses tumor-associated antigens to induce tumor-specific, immune responses. The xenogenic (murine) polyantigenic vaccine (XPV) -in which there are main families of common tumor associated antigens - has been developed in the Institute of Clinical immunology. The small structural distinctions of xenogenic tumor-associated antigens from their human analogues render these antigens highly immunogenic and capable of stimulating immune-mediated, antitumor responses in a patient not only at early, but also at late stages of a disease, when tumor-derived immunosuppression is significant for more information.

The systemic treatment of patients with metastatic prostate cancer is mainly based on hormonotherapy that is directed to inhibiting testosterone production and action in the body. However, irrespective of used treatment regime, all patients ultimately become unresponsivive to hormonotherapy. This typically occurs at 12-to-18 months after therapy initiation. The median survival in the patients with hormone-independent prostate cancer is within the limits of 6–to-8 months. The standard treatment of such patients is usually palliative and directed to support the quality of their life. Consequently, a lot of attention is now focused on a relatively new approach to treatment of prostate cancer called immunotherapy. The goal of immunotherapy is to boost the body's immune system to more effectively fight off or destroy cancer cells.

Our own experience suggests that a clinical effect of various grades (complete or partial response, disease stabilization) with a duration not shorter than 6 months may be achieved in nearly 75 % XPV-treated patients with stage IV prostate cancer. These results are undoubtedly very encouraging. They must be considered as preliminary because they are based on a very small number of patients with very advanced disease.

For more information see the publications.