Cancer Vaccine FAQs
Cancer occurs when there is unregulated growth of a tissue. Benign cancer is an overgrowth which stops after the mass reaches a certain size and usually does not pose a health problem. Malignant cancer, on the other hand, is when the overgrowth is unstoppable. That is, the tissue continues to grow even after it is resected. Further, cancer cells from the primary malignant mass can detach and spread to other parts of the body resulting in secondary cancer. This process of cancer spread is known as metastasis. In every-day use, the term cancer commonly means malignant cancer.
In a normal healthy person (or animal) occurrence of cancer is rapidly detected by the body’s immune system as ‘foreign’, and promptly eliminated. In some patients the cancer eludes the immune system and therefore continues to grow. In biological terminology this process is known as ‘tolerance’ (of the body towards the cancer). Why this happens in some and not in others is the subject of intense research for the past 50 years but with no clear-cut answers yet.
Clearly, earlier one can treat cancer the better the chance that its growth could be slowed or stopped permanently. If the cancer mass could be detected and completely removed surgically then its spread can be restricted. This is exactly how cancer is currently managed. In order to further reduce the presence of remaining cancer cells after surgery that could regrow and metastasize, radiation and / or chemotherapy are applied. Both, radiation and chemotherapy, in addition to being expensive also have severe side-effects, taking a heavy toll on the patient and the supporting family.
One approach to treat cancer is to overcome the tolerance of the body to the cancer cells. While the cancer cells are clearly abnormal and ‘foreign’ yet the immune system fails to recognize them as such. This is because the abnormal domains of the tumor proteins remain concealed in the inner folds of the proteins. A recent novel approach pioneered by Oncottack™ is to prepare a vaccine from the surgically removed tumor mass. The idea is to prepare the vaccine in a manner that re-folds the abnormal proteins in a manner that exposes the abnormal parts of the tumor proteins to the immune system. Once the abnormal parts of the tumor proteins come into contact with the immune system an appropriate response in terms of antibodies and killer cells are produced in the body to attack and eliminate the cancer, as occurs in a healthy body. Such a vaccine is called Personalized Cancer Vaccine (PCV) because it is specifically made from the patient’s own tumor and is effective only in that patient.
Oncottack™ technology involves, first processing the surgically removed tumor mass to extract the tumor proteins using specially formulated reagents. Following extraction the tumor proteins are chemically bonded to biodegradable gel particles. This process of chemical extraction and covalent bonding of tumor proteins to gel particles result in re-folding of tumor protein molecules in a different manner than they were in the tumor mass, thereby exposing the hidden abnormal parts of the proteins. Once given as an injection the gel particles produce a temporary site where immune cells accumulate and get activated to digest the gel particles. At such a site where activated immune cells are present there is an enhanced probability of the immune cells to recognize the abnormal tumor proteins leading to the generation of antibodies and tumor-specific ‘killer’ cells, resulting in breaking of the tolerant state and eliminating the cancer.
Veterinary drugs and vaccines are usually regulated by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The USDA is authorized, under the 1913 Virus-Serum-Toxin Act as amended by the 1985 Food Security Act. This is the case for manufactured products that meet a standard criteria of quality and potency. Because PCVs are unique and specific to each patient they are exempt from regulation by the USDA. Their production is covered under the veterinarian-client relationship contract. Simply put, a veterinarian can contract a specialized laboratory such as Oncottackâ„¢ Process to prepare the PCV for their patients without involving the USDA.
Oncottackâ„¢ Process conducted research on the efficacy of PCVs (prepared using the Oncottackâ„¢ technology) against canine soft tissue sarcomas that were pathologically confirmed to be metastatic grade 2. These vaccines were administered in the manner recommended by Oncottackâ„¢, that is, 1 mL suspension given subcutaneously at time 0, week 3, week 6, 4 months, and 6 months. We found that treating patients with the Oncottackâ„¢ PCVs blocked the re-appearance of the tumor in all cases for up to one year tested. In contrast, control patients left untreated had to undergo debulking surgeries every 3- months.
Even though we have tested PCVs only against soft tissue sarcomas, we believe that similarly prepared PCVs from all other solid canine (or feline) tumors will be effective in blocking or slowing down the growth of the cancer.