Kidney Cancer Vaccine Successful in Clinical Trials

Researchers at the University of Tübingen and immatics biotechnologies GmbH – a start-up by Tübingen scientists – have published the results of two clinical studies using the kidney-cancer vaccine IMA901 in the latest edition of Nature Medicine.

IMA901 is used to treat patients with cancer of the kidneys. It is composed of ten synthetic tumor-associated peptides (TUMAPs), which activate the body’s own killer T-cells against the tumor. Unlike chemotherapy, this process targets the body’s immune responses and mobilizes them to attack the cancer. The studies show that this active immunization against cancer can be successful and extend the life of a patient for longer than even the latest chemotherapy techniques – with far fewer side-effects.

Nature Medicine – Multipeptide immune response to cancer vaccine IMA901 after single-dose cyclophosphamide associates with longer survival times

Prof. Dr. Hans-Georg Rammensee, head of Immunology at the University of Tübingen and co-founder of immatics biotechnologies, says: “This work is a milestone in the development of cancer immune therapies. The principle applied here – of active immunization against cancer antigens previously identified in cancer cells – can be used against practically all types of cancer. University of Tübingen researchers have published similarly successful clinical studies in the case of bowel cancer, also in collaboration with immatics, and prostate cancer. Immatics is currently carrying out studies on treatments for glioblastoma [a common and malignant brain tumor] and further studies for treating liver cancer and ovarian carcinoma are in the pipeline.”

Prof. Dr. Arnulf Stenzl, head of Urology at the University Hospitals, who supervised the clinical studies, explains: “All of the medications previously used have brought about a clear improvement in reducing tumor growth in cancer of the kidneys, but they did not lead to the desired extension of the patient’s life and certainly did not cure the patient. So from the clinical point of view, the further development by immatics of active immunization in combination with a low dose of one-off chemotherapy is a significant step in the treatment of kidney cell carcinoma – and possibly other malignant tumors as well.”

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