Roswell Park Cancer Institute has achieved another milestone in the field of cancer research.

On Tuesday, January 24, 2012, Roswell Park Cancer Institute's Center for Immunotherapy announced a new trial vaccine that is designed to eradicate cancer cells as well as prevent cancer relapse.  

The NY-ESO-1 dendritic cell vaccine will be manufactured at Roswell's Therapeutic Cell Production Facility using a unique FDA-approved process.  This process makes Roswell Park the first research facility in the U.S. to use a custom-made barrier isolator for vaccine cell production, as well as the first in the world to use this system in an approved, government-regulated study.

Dendritic cells work as gatekeepers of the immune system, which work to defend the body against foreign invaders like viruses, bacteria and cancer.  

"Armed with this specialized protein, the treated cells are then given back to the patient as a vaccine designed to recruit an army of killer immune cells that seek out and destroy cancer," explained Kunle Odunsi, M.D., Ph.D., Director of RPCI's Center for Immunotherapy and the study's Principal Investigator.

The study is revolutionary because it is the first to test a dendritic vaccine with rapamycin, a compound used to prevent rejection of a solid-organ transplant.  Based on the recent scientific discovery by Protul Shrikant, Ph.D., of the Department of Immunology at Roswell Park, that rapamycin, when used in small doses prevents the immune system from using up its cancer killing T-cells all at once.

"We have shown for the first time that rapamycin has the capacity to produce immune cells that have memory attributes," said Dr. Odunsi, who is also the Chair of RPCI's Department of Gynecologic Oncology. "The immune cells are trained to live longer and to always remember that cancer cells are bad and should be attacked and killed."

Being able to stretch out the attack for a more extensive and durable amount of time suggests that the vaccine may be effective in preventing disease reoccurrence.  

The vaccine will be produced in Roswell Park's Therapeutic Cell Production facility under the direction of Yeong "Christopher" Choi, Ph.D., who states that the facility is the first of its kind.

The potential for therapeutic vaccines is drawing attention in the field of cancer research and treatment.  Last year, the FDA approved Provenge, the first cancer vaccine used to treat men with advanced prostate cancer.  Roswell Park's Center for Immunotherapy is waiting for FDA approval to launch additional cancer vaccine trials, including one to treat malignant glioma, a type of brain tumor.

"This trial will be only the beginning of a very robust program of activity in the area of using the human immune system to fight cancer," added Dr. Odunsi. "Our production process holds tremendous potential for applications related to stem-cell therapy and regenerative medicine, and I believe we're uniquely positioned at RPCI to have the tools, infrastructure and multidisciplinary collaboration to capitalize on these ideas and opportunities both effectively and efficiently."

The Phase I study has secured enough participants for the vaccine as of Feb. 1, 2012 and many are hopeful for what this vaccine means for the future of cancer treatment.