Clinical trial NCT00471133: Safety and Immunogenicity of a Melanoma DNA Vaccine Delivered by Electroporation
Official title: A Phase Ia/Ib Study of the Safety and Immunogenicity of a Xenogeneic Tyrosinase DNA Vaccine Melanoma
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: PHASE1
Conditions: Melanoma (Skin)
Intraocular Melanoma
Keywords: melanoma
DNA vaccine
tyrosinase
electroporation
Lead sponsor: Ichor Medical Systems Incorporated
Sponsor class: INDUSTRY
Collaborators: name: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
First posted: 2007-05-09
Enrollment: 24
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: NA
Intervention model: SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of a DNA vaccine encoding a melanosomal antigen in melanoma patients at risk for disease progression or recurrence. In this study, the vaccine will be administered intramuscularly using a device that applies brief electrical fields to the tissue at the site of injection (a technique known as electroporation). It is expected that this device will improve the delivery of the vaccine. This study is being performed to determine if this procedure can be administered safely and if it is capable of inducing immune responses to the vaccine.

Detailed description: This study is designed to evaluate administration of a xenogeneic DNA vaccine encoding the melanosomal antigen tyrosinase by in vivo electroporation in patients with malignant melanoma. The objectives of the study are to characterize the safety and immunogenicity of a DNA vaccine encoding the murine tyrosinase gene delivered administered intramuscularly using the electroporation based TriGrid Delivery System (Ichor Medical Systems). We will assess the nature, frequency, and severity of any toxicity associated with vaccination at escalating pINGmuTyr doses and then expand enrollment at then expand enrollment at the Maximum Tolerated Dose to assess immunologic responses to the tyrosinase antigen.

The hypotheses being tested are that the procedure is feasible and safe and that it induces immune responses specific for tyrosinase in patients with stage IIB-IV malignant melanoma.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Patients must have documented, histologically confirmed malignant melanoma, American Joint Commission on Cancer (AJCC) Stage IIB- IV. Patients with stage IIb-III disease are only eligible after standard surgical care with wide local excision and appropriate lymph node sampling. Patients with stage IIb, IIc, or III melanoma who are free of disease after surgical resection are also eligible, only if they have refused high dose Interferon-alfa (INTRON A) or have had a recurrence while on Interferon-alfa.
* Patients with choroidal melanoma may participate if they fulfill one of the following criteria: Basal diameter \>16mm; Height \>8mm or involvement of the ciliary body with tumor.
* Patients must be at least 18 years of age and must be capable of understanding the consent form and giving informed consent.
* Karnofsky Score \> 80
* Life Expectancy \> 6 months
* HLA-A1, A2, A24, or B35+ as assessed by low resolution phenotyping
* White blood cell count ≥ 2,000/mm3
* Platelet count ≥ 100,000/mm3
* Neutrophil count ≥ 1,000/mm3
* Hemoglobin ≥ 9.0 g/dL
* Serum AST and ALT ≤ 2.5 times upper limit of normal (ULN)
* Serum Bilirubin ≤ 2.0 mg/dL
* Serum Creatinine ≤ 2.0 mg/dL
* Serum Alkaline Phosphatase \< 2.5 times ULN
* Serum Creatine phosphokinase (CPK) \< 2.5 times ULN

Exclusion Criteria:

* Documented metastases in brain
* Clinical history of HIV, HepB, HepC, and/or HTLV I.
* Active autoimmune disease other than vitiligo
* Patients previously immunized using the tyrosinase DNA sequence, protein, or peptides.
* Systemic immunosuppressive therapy (corticosteroids, or other immunosuppressive drugs) within the previous 28 days
* Surgery and/or radiotherapy within the previous 28 days
* Chemotherapy and/or biotherapy within the previous 28 days
* Participation in an investigational study within previous 28 days
* Patients with cardiac demand pacemakers.
* Women who are pregnant or \< 3 months post partum or nursing.
* Women of child-bearing potential and sexually active men must be using appropriate contraception during the course of this study.
* Any other concurrent medical condition that in the opinion of the Principal Investigator or co-Principal Investigator's would preclude study compliance.

Primary outcomes:
measure: Evaluate the safety and feasibility of electroporation mediated intramuscular delivery of a mouse tyrosinase plasmid DNA vaccine in patients with stage IIB, IIC, III, or IV melanoma.
timeFrame: one year
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Assess patients with measurable tumor for evidence of anti-tumor response following immunization.
timeFrame: 6 months
measure: Assess the magnitude and frequency of tyrosinase specific immunologic responses in the immunized patients
timeFrame: 6 months
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: New York
country: United States
facility: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
state: New York
Study officials:
affiliation: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
name: Jedd D. Wolchok, MD, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Yuan J, Ku GY, Adamow M, Mu Z, Tandon S, Hannaman D, Chapman P, Schwartz G, Carvajal R, Panageas KS, Houghton AN, Wolchok JD. Immunologic responses to xenogeneic tyrosinase DNA vaccine administered by electroporation in patients with malignant melanoma. J Immunother Cancer. 2013 Nov 18;1:20. doi: 10.1186/2051-1426-1-20. eCollection 2013.