Kidney Cancer Vaccine Increases Survival Rates

Kidney Cancer Vaccine

After being tested in phase 1 and 2 clinical trials, the first therapeutic vaccine for renal cell carcinoma has been shown to increase survival rates. According to a study published in Nature Medicine,  IMA901  vaccine had promising results in patients with renal cell carcinoma. In addition the researchers found biomarkers that might help select patients who respond best to this kind of treatment option.

Renal cell carcinoma (hypernephroma) is the most common kidney cancer  derived from cells that form proximal convoluted tubules . Classic symptoms of kidney cancer consist of hematuria, flank pain and presence of back abdominal mass. There are of course other symptoms that accompany the presence of kidney cancer, such as varicocele, which is caused by renal vein compression, hypertension (which occurs when there is a high level of renine), weight loss without apparent cause, anorexia, anemia (which occurs because of erythropoietin deficiency) etc..

Kidney Cancer

The causes of renal cell carcinoma are multiple. Some believe that a risk factor is  occupational exposure to cadmium, asbestos and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Others believe that hypertension or chronic treatment with NSAIDs increase the risk of renal cell carcinoma. The prognosis of this cancer varies with tumor stage. In stage 1 renal cell carcinoma has a survival rate of 90% at 5 years, while in stage 4, the 5-year survival rate drops dramatically to 5-10%. Metastases occur most frequently in lymph nodes, liver, lung, bone and brain and are of course associated with low survival rates.

Treatment of renal cell carcinoma consists of surgical resection (nephrectomy) and other adjuvant therapies. Unfortunately, radiotherapy and chemotherapy bring little benefit. Radiotherapy is sometimes used to relieve pain when patients have bone metastases. Therefore, researchers focused on the development of other treatment therapies ( biologic therapies, immunotherapy etc). Treatment with interleukin-2 has proven useful in certain patients, but has many side effects: increased risk of infection, thrombocytopenia, vomiting, diarrhea, etc. cardiac arrhythmias. Immunotherapy, however,  is extensively studied and could become standard treatment for certain cancers.

IMA901 vaccine is a therapeutic vaccine consisting of multiple tumor-associated peptides. These peptide antigens are actually found on the surface of tumor cells and were found in large amounts in patients with renal cell carcinoma. Once recognized by immune system cells, tumor cells are destroyed. Also, researchers have observed the presence of two markers that could predict the response to this treatment. Apolipoprotein AI (APOA1) and chemokine (CC motif) ligand 17 (CCL17) are biomarkers that predict both immune response and survival duration.

Although results are promising after the first two phases of clinical trials, IMA901 vaccine has to be tested in phase 3 clinical trials in order to released.