Immuno-oncology clinical firm Imugene Limited and the United States' largest cancer research and treatment organization, City of Hope, recently announced that their developed anticancer dose was successfully injected into a human patient without any side effects and other issues.
Anticancer Virus Solution Injected into Humans for the First Time
The anticancer procedure is part of a Phase 1 clinical trial to examine the efficacy of a cancer-killing virus called the CF33-hNIS. The main interest of the research is to prove the safety of the novel solution when administered to cancer patients with advanced solid tumors.
The drug candidate, also called Vaxinia, is composed of an oncolytic virus that was genetically modified to attack solid tumors by infecting them and ultimately eliminating the cancer cells on which the lumps were built.
The CF33-hNIS is a type of pox virus that specializes in infiltrating cells while duplicating itself in the process. Once the virus infects the cancer cells, they eventually burst and emit thousands of viral particles that serve as antigens for the treatment. These particles would work with the natural immune system of a human body and attack the remaining cancer cells.
Previous papers that included animal subjects presented how the drug could stimulate the immune system of the model for hunting and destroying cancer cells. Despite the results from the investigation showing efficacy, the approach was not tested on humans until today.
City of Hope oncology specialist and lead author of the study Daneng Li explained in the organization's press release that their previous experiments showed how the oncolytic viruses could trigger a patient's immunity and improve its response to other immunotherapies.
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CF33-hNIS: Future of Solutions Against Cancer
The true potential of the CF33-hNIS viral drug would be revealed once the additional clinical trials yielded promising results following the first phase.
Each trial enrolls 100 adult patients that have metastatic or advanced solid tumors, and have skipped at least two lines of standard treatment. The participants will be monitored throughout the phase after administering a lower dose of the experimental drug through direct injection or intravenous approach.
After patients get positive results from the CF33-hNIS application, the drug will be partnered with a separate antibody treatment called pembrolizumab for further cancer immunotherapy testing, Science Alert reports.
The current version of the experimental drug could already produce compounds such as human sodium iodide symporter or hNIS. This protein helps the research authors take an image and monitor the viral replication of the Vaxinia. The hNIS protein could also damage the cancer cells when equipped with radioactive iodine.
The measure of the treatment's efficacy will be specified after ensuring that the drugs are handled perfectly by the participants, without any adverse or recurring effects, and the reaction of the subjects' bodies following the administration of low dose CF33-hNIS.
The study was presented in the NIH US National Library of Medicine, titled "A Study of CF33-hNIS (VAXINIA), an Oncolytic Virus, as Monotherapy or in Combination With Pembrolizumab in Adults With Metastatic or Advanced Solid Tumors (MAST).
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