Do Cancer Vaccines Really Work?
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DO CANCER VACCINES REALLY WORK? An Interactive Qualifying Project Report Submitted to the Faculty of WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Science By: Derek Brinkmann Danielle Healy Anthony Kassas Zhuohao Ling IQP-43-DSA-5111 IQP-43-DSA-7932 IQP-43-DSA-8709 IQP-43-DSA-0019 BME & ME BME ChE CS Muhammad Siddiq Isaac Vrooman Eric Williams Zhizhen Wu IQP-43-DSA-3103 IQP-43-DSA-4019 IQP-43-DSA-4086 IQP-43-DSA-3409 ME ChE ME Robotics & CS August 27, 2015 APPROVED: _________________________ Prof. David S. Adams, PhD WPI Project Advisor 1 ABSTRACT The overall goal of this project was to document and evaluate the technology of cancer vaccines, especially the newer more effective versions, to determine whether cancer vaccines are really worth the recent media hype, to document any problems associated with the technique, and to help prioritize future directions. We performed a review of the research literature and conducted interviews with academic cancer researchers. Based on the research performed for this project, our team’s overall conclusion is that, of the six major categories of cancer vaccines, the tumor infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) type vaccines have shown the highest efficacies, with some CAR vaccines producing as high as 90% full cancer remissions in medium-sized (30 patient) studies. We identified several directions for moving the field forward, including using combination vaccines (especially with antibodies for immune checkpoint inhibitors), adjuvants, recall antigens (if the vaccine is delivered into the skin), and identifying and using a patient’s own specific tumor neoantigens. We recommend that funding be continued in the cancer vaccine area of research. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Title Page ……………………………….……………………………………..……. 01 Abstract …………………………………………………………………..…………. 02 Table of Contents ………………………………………………………………..… 03 Acknowledgements …………………………………………………………..…….. 04 Authorship ………………………………………………………….………….…… 06 Project Goals ………………………………………………………………………. 07 Executive Summary ………………………………………………………….…….. 08 Literature Review …………………………..………………..……………….……. 22 Introduction to Cancer……….………………………….…………………. 22 Introduction to Immunology…………………………….……...…………. 30 Peptide Injections, Monovalent Antibodies………….…………………….. 44 Bivalent Antibodies, Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors….………..…………. 54 Dendritic Cell Vaccines, Animal Experiments and Provenge………….….. 70 DC Vaccines for Melanoma and Glioblastoma..…...……..……………….. 79 Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocyte (TIL) Vaccines ………………..…………. 91 Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) Vaccines ………………………….….. 99 Methods …………………………………………………………………………… 114 Results/Findings ……………………………..…………………………….……… 115 Conclusions/Recommendations ………………………..…………………….…… 128 Appendix ……………………………………………………………………….…. 130 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We would like to thank the following individuals for allowing us to interview them for this IQP project (last names listed in alphabetical order): Dr. Patrick A. Baeuerle. Amgen Research (Munich) GmbH, Staffelseestrasse 2, 81477 Munich, Germany. Dr. Ralf Bargou. Max Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine, Robert-Rossle-Str. 10, 13125 Berlin, Germany. Dr. Jason H. Bielas. Human Biology Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA 98109. Dr. Philippe Colombat. Hepator-Gastro-Onco-Enterlogie Professor at CHRU de Tours, Hospital Trousseau, Avenue de la Republique, Chamray-les Tours, 37044 Tours Cedex 9, France. Dr. Giuseppe Curigliano. Viale Romagna, 43 20133, Milano, Italia. Dr. Jin-Tang Dong. 1365-C Clifton Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30322. Dr. Guido Ferlazzo. Department of Human Pathology, University of Messina, Messina, Italy. Dr. Laurie H. Glimcher. Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY 10065, USA. Dr. Nicola Gökbuget. GMALL Chair, University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe University, Department of Medicine II, Hematology and Oncology, University Cancer Center, Theodor Stern Kai 7, D-60590 Frankfurt. Dr. Dieter Hoelzer, MD, PhD. Onkologikum, Frankfurt am Museumsufer, Schaubstrasse 16, D- 60596 Frankfurt, Germany. Dr. Regina Hofmann-Lehmann. Clinical Laboratory and Center for Clinical Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland. Dr. Philip W. Kantoff, MD. Director, Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology, Vice Chair and Chief, Division of Solid Tumor Oncology, Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, The Jerome and Nancy Kohlberg Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, 44 Binney Street, Dana 1230, Boston, MA 02115. Dr. Matthias Klinger. Principal Scientist, BiTE Immunology, Amgen Research (Munich) GmbH, Munich, Germany. Dr. James N. Kochenderfer. Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Building 10-CRC, Room 3-3888, Bethesda, MD 20892. Dr. Hideho Okada. University of California San Francisco, Department of Neurological Surgery, 505 Parnassus Ave, M-779 San Francisco, CA 94143-0520. 4 Dr. James C. Paulson. President and CEO (Acting), and the Departments of Cell and Molecular Biology, Immunology and Microbial Science, and Physiological Chemistry, Scripps Research Institute, MB-202, 10550 N. Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA 92037. Dr. David H. Raulet. Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, and Cancer Research Laboratory, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720. Dr. Paul F. Robbins. Surgery Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD. Dr. John H. Sampson, MD, PhD. Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710. Dr. Robert D. Schreiber. Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 South Euclid Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63110. Dr. Evelien L. J. Smits. Center for Oncological Research, University of Antwerp, B-2610 Antwerp, Belgium. Dr. Suzanne L. Topalian, MD. Department of Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 1550 Orleans Street, CRB 2, Room 508, Baltimore, MD 21287. Dr. I. Jolanda M. de Vries. Nijmegen Centre for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, PO Box 9101, 6500 HB Nijmegen, the Netherlands. Dr. Robert A. Weinberg. Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, 9 Cambridge Center Cambridge, MA 02142, USA. Dr. James C. Yang. Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Building 10 CRC, Room 3-5952, Bethesda, MD 20892. In addition to the interviewees listed above, we would also like to thank Dr. David Adams for serving as project advisor for this IQP. Dr. Adams was invaluable to this project. His assistance, encouragement, dedication, and timely responses were essential to the completion of this project. The success of the project is due in great part to his useful guidance on every step, which was extremely valuable as it informed the students on both an academic and personal basis, including proper report writing and communicating with experts so as to create dialectic among intellectuals. We would like to thank him for supervising our IQP and for all of his guidance. 5 AUTHORSHIP Author Areas Covered Background on Cancer. Anthony Kassas Cancer Causes. Cancer Treatments. Example Cancers as Discussed Later for Vaccines. Background on Immunology. Danielle Healy Immune System Components. Special Components Related to Cancer Vaccines. Peptide Injections. Muhammad Siddiq Monovalent Antibodies. Bivalent Antibodies. Isaac Vrooman Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors (PD-1 and CTLA-4). Dendritic Cell (DC) Vaccines. Derek Brinkman Animal DC Experiments. Provenge DC Prostate Cancer Vaccine. Dendritic Cell Vaccines for Melanomas. Zhizhen Wu Dendritic Cell Vaccines for Glioblastomas. Improving Vaccine Strategies. Eric Williams Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocyte (TIL) Vaccines. Zhuohao (Troy) Ling Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) Vaccines. 6 PROJECT GOALS The overall goal of this project was to document and evaluate the technology of cancer vaccines, especially the newer more effective versions, to determine whether cancer vaccines are really worth the recent hype, to document problems with the technique, and help prioritize future directions. The specific objectives were to: 1 Develop a comprehensive assessment of the scientific experiments that led to the development of cancer vaccines, and document the key animal and clinical studies that have been done with them. 2 Characterize what key scientific stakeholders believe are the strengths, weaknesses, reliability, usefulness, and cost of this new technology, and any other concerns. 3 Evaluate all of the obtained evidence and prioritize the remaining problems. 4 Recommend potential solutions to any remaining problems, and prioritize future experiments. 7 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Cancer is a genetic disease caused by mutations in DNA. The mutations can occur in growth factor genes, growth related pathways, or tumor suppressor genes, but regardless of the site of the mutation the outcome is uncontrolled cell growth. Cancer survival statistics have improved in the past several decades due to more accurate and sensitive detection techniques, better drugs to block cell growth by a variety of mechanisms, and more precise surgical tools. But despite these advances and the money provided by the “War on Cancer” initiated by the National Cancer Act of 1971, cancer still remains the second leading cause of death following cardiovascular disease, so better therapies are needed. The subject of this IQP is a new form of therapy, cancer vaccines, which use the patient’s own immune system to help fight the tumor.