World first clinical trial—A$1.3 million boost give new hope for prostate cancer sufferers

In a world first, scientists at Brisbane's MMRI are currently trialling a new prostate cancer vaccine—a research development which could potentially revolutionise patient treatment in the future.

After years of undergoing various treatments, prostate cancer sufferer, Lex Irvine, hopes the immunotherapy vaccine might help prolong his life.

On a momentous occasion for the young Institute, which has had scientists working on the vaccine technology for several years, Lex bestows the honour of being the first patient to participate in this phase I clinical trial.

“I had no qualms about being involved in the trial,” he said. “I'm pretty thrilled about being the first and the alternatives were not looking so good.

“Of course you always hope that it will work, but there are a lot of people with prostate cancer in a similar situation so if it could help them as well, I wanted to do something for other people,” he said.

The 72 year old North Rockhampton resident will make regular trips to Brisbane throughout the treatment period, which involves three doses of the vaccine over a three month period. After one dose, Lex is feeling good, there have been no adverse reactions and he has experienced less pain.

“Everyone at home is waiting to see what happens,” he said. “They're all praying for me.”

MMRI scientists alike are waiting to see the results. Data will be assessed continually throughout the trial period, which involves 12 patients over a 12 month timeframe.

Scientists are simultaneously working on an additional prostate cancer trial, made possible by a A$1.3 million grant from the US Army. The grant will fund a clinical trial using a similar immunotherapy vaccine, but will implement a novel monoclonal antibody in a single step procedure, which has been developed by MMRI scientists.

The current trial uses commercial antibodies in a single two step procedure and involves extracting the patient's dendritic cells (specialised white blood cells responsible for controlling the body's immune response), essentially "training" them in the laboratory to identify cancerous matter and instruct T-cells to destroy it. The team published the preclinical work related to this project in the journal, Prostate, last month.

MMRI Director, Professor Derek Hart, discovered dendritic cells in 1979 and has dedicated his life's research to study them.

“In actual fact, it is a case of encouraging the body to heal itself,” said Professor Hart.

“I am delighted to see the Institute's science being translated to the clinical environment where it can begin to benefit patients. This is the vision we have for the Institute.

“We have more clinical trials planned to commence and this funding from the US Army is a tremendous boost. It is encouraging to see that our research is having a real impact on the international stage.”

Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer in males, with one in 11 men being diagnosed with the disease. This figure increases two to threefold if there is a family history of prostate cancer. Every year, around 10 000 Australian men are diagnosed and more than 2500 die from the disease.