Robert H. Vonderheide, MD, D.Phil
Associate Professor of Medicine, Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA
2009-2010 BCRF Project:
(made possible with generous support from Hard Rock Café International, Inc.)
Co-Investigator:
Susan M. Domchek, MD, Abramson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania
The overall purpose of this project is to test if a novel vaccine against breast cancer can lower the risk of cancer recurrence when given to patients after their initial diagnosis and treatment. The targets of the vaccine are the proteins telomerase and survivin, both of which are almost always found in breast cancer but rarely in normal cells. Each of these proteins plays a critical role in the malignant biology that keeps a cancer cell growing like a cancer cell, and therefore, they are ideal targets for novel therapy.
Drs. Vonderheide and Domchek have shown in the laboratory and now in the clinic that both telomerase and survivin can become bull's eyes for the human immune system. Their plan going forward is to finish the clinical trial testing this vaccine in patients with advanced breast cancer and then if safe and promising, initiate a clinical trial of patients who are in remission but who are at high risk for cancer recurrence despite standard treatment of their breast cancer. The ultimate goal is to develop a novel vaccine for breast cancer that reduces breast cancer recurrence.
As part of this study, they have observed that treatment with the FDA-approved monoclonal antibody daclizumab one week prior to the start of vaccination markedly and chronically depletes suppressor lymphocytes in patients and may represent an important therapeutic maneuver to improve the effectiveness of cancer vaccines. The researchers propose this year to begin testing telomerase vaccination as prevention in patients in remission with stage III breast cancer.
Mid-Year Progress Report:
The overall purpose of this project is to develop novel vaccines against breast cancer that can lower the risk of cancer recurrence when given to patients after their initial diagnosis and treatment. The targets of the vaccines include the proteins telomerase and survivin, both of which are almost always found in breast cancer but rarely in normal cells. A BCRF-funded clinical trial testing this approach in patients with metastatic break cancer is nearly complete, and a second trial testing telomerase vaccination as prevention in patients in remission with stage III breast cancer has been opened.
Bio:
Dr. Robert Vonderheide is Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and an investigator of the Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering and from Oxford University, England, as a Rhodes Scholar with a D.Phil. in immunology. After graduating from Harvard Medical School, he completed a residency in Internal Medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital and subsequently a clinical fellowship in hematology-oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. He joined the University of Pennsylvania faculty in 2001, and his laboratory is interested in combining efforts in both basic research and clinical investigation to advance the understanding of tumor immunology and to develop novel immunotherapies for cancer.
