Anti-myeloma vaccine trial data…

At the beginning of April, Vaxil BioTherapeutics released the interim results from its Phase I and II vaccine trial in multiple myeloma patients. The full shebang is available online for free, so I don’t need to do much…commenting (though I probably will, hehe): http://goo.gl/ec1ZI

The vaccine, called ImMucin, targets something called MUC1 (the “Muc” in “ImMucin”!) = a gene that can cause cancer also known as an “oncoprotein.” As we can read in the above-mentioned press release, MUC1 is present in 90% of all tumors. OF ALL TUMORS. Myeloma, too, of course. Myeloma cells thrive on MUC1…but when this oncoprotein is blocked, they all die (see this Dana Farber 2012 study, e.g.: http://goo.gl/zmvNR). A no-brainer, eh…

I’ve already written about this vaccine (see my January 19 2012 “apigenin” post: http://goo.gl/X01ht), mainly because apigenin—a natural compound found mainly in celery and parsley—also inhibits MUC1…How about that? So hey, this is something we can all do…I mean, while waiting for more info to be released, it can’t hurt to increase our intake of celery and other apigenin-containing foods (but please be careful about eating too much parsley, which could be toxic in high doses…My above-mentioned post includes a bunch of warnings, so please have a look at it first…). 

Back to the Vaxil press release now. Only seven multiple myeloma patients have thus far been treated with the ImMucin vaccine. And here are the preliminary results: the vaccine has a very high safety profile. No side effects were observed with the exception of minor local irritation which all resolved themselves within 24 hours without the need for any additional treatment or medical intervention. Sounds good…

And, after only being given 2-4 doses (out of 12), all the patients had a robust and specific immune response. Indeed, some of the patients’ cancer markers stabilized or even decreased. And three out of seven patients are in complete response now. No news on how the four others are doing, though. But this is a press release whose main goal seems to be that of announcing a company merger, so I suppose the lack of medical details is to be expected.

Now here is a really interesting…and important titbit: Firstly, ImMucin can be offered to a very wide section of the population with no need for complicated and expensive personalization or prior selection based on the patient’s immune system. Second, ImMucin has the ability that may enable it to cope with the tendency of the tumor to evade the immune response and develop resistance to treatment. Aha!

Well, that’s what we know so far. It looks very good on paper, but of course we have to keep in mind that the vaccine producers themselves are releasing their own data. So before getting too excited, I’d like to see some independent trial data. Still…

Fingers crossed! 🙂

P.S. I almost forgot to mention that my blog’s commenting problems seem to have been solved (thanks, Beth!)…shhhht, don’t let the spammers know! 😉 So go ahead and post a comment, if you wish. Oh, if you notice that it isn’t published immediately, that simply means that I’m not at the computer (I have to approve all comments, you see…). 

14 Comments

  1. Let’s see:

    On the one hand, I could opt for overagressive, toxic, therapy with as many drugs as possible followed by a stem cell transplant (or two if I am up for it!), all the while knowing that this will not a cure and that my entire bone marrow will be ravaged and altered forever….

    OR

    I could opt for a vaccine that marshals the natural and power forces of my otherwise healty immune system to specfically target the cancer cells and to generate backup memory cells that are waiting in the wings….

    Hmmmmmmm

  2. I take 3 teaspoons of dried parsley mixed in hot water.
    Do you readers think it´s too much or toxic, and what
    about hot water, does it destroy the effect?
    inge

  3. A friend posted this interesting link on Facebook today: http://www.quora.com/Cancer-Research/What-does-the-medical-community-think-about-Vaxils-cancer-vaccine Food for thought.

    Inge, 3 teaspoons doesn’t seem to be a huge amount (enough to be toxic, that is) but, to be honest, I just don’t know. However, there must be websites that can tell you what is considered to be a toxic amount…If you find anything, please let me know. Thanks!

    Diane, as far as I know, there is no info to that regard…

  4. My husband was diagnosed with mm last year at 47 yrs old. Since then he has had velcade/cytoxin w dex, then when it didnt work he took Revelimid, dex & BMS (clinical trial), after it quit working, they switched to Revelimid, dex & velcade, now it has stopped working so theyve added cytoxin to that cocktail. Where are you finding the curcumin in the large gram amounts? Locally I have found 900 mg tablets at Vitamin shoppe but no one has larger dosages. please respond to my e mail, as im not sure how to use the blog. Thank you.

    1. Hi Michelle, curcumin is OK with dex, velcade and rev, but it’s apparently NOT ok (based on animal tests) with Cytoxan. It might inhibit it, in other words. So I’d wait until your husband is off Cytoxan before giving him curcumin. Just to be cautious.
      I see that the Vitamin Shoppe curcumin isn’t the C3 Complex curcumin that has been used in the myeloma/MGUS clinical trials. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t work, of course!
      Yes, there are one-gram curcumin tablets…try going to Vitacost (http://www.vitacost.com/) to see what you can find there. I know that Doctor’s Best makes a one-gram tablet, but I haven’t tested it yet. I take the 500 mg C3 Complex capsules (Doctor’s Best and sometimes the NSI brand, that’s the Vitacost brand). I’ll send you a private message, too. Ciao!

  5. Margaret dear,
    What would we do without You!
    You are an angel, we all love you.
    Thanks and have a nice weekend with your love ones.
    inge

  6. Hi Margaret, I just purchased a bottle of curcumin, Doctor’s Best C3 complex 1000 mg. with the intention of cutting it in half for my husband to take. Just wondering if that would be acceptable since I see that
    you take the 500mg caps. My husband has been researching for the past year on alternative treatments after taking
    dexamethazone for several months. His doctor begged him to take revlamid which he did and after one pill he became very ill and turned up with blood clots in both legs. He has been on coumadin for several weeks to eliminate the bloodclots. We now want to try the curcumin but don’t want to overdo the blood thinner. He has resisted the velcade just because he hates the thought of more side affects.
    Thank you so much for all your information and for the time you spend. You are such an inspiration. joyce

  7. Hi Margaret,
    I was curious to know if further progress has been made on the Immucin Vaccine that was being developed and tested by Vaxil in Israel.
    Vijay

  8. I have emailed Israel ref Vaxil vaccine recently and they replied and said they would be announcing phase 11 very soon.

Leave a Reply to inge Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *