[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 18 (Monday, January 30, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S1732]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


           THE UAB COMPREHENSIVE CANCER CENTER VACCINE TRIALS

  Mr. HEFLIN. Mr. President, as we know, a vaccine against cancer is 
one of the most eagerly sought objectives of medical science. 
Preclinical studies and patient trials of several potential vaccines 
are under way in the United States and Europe.
  At the University of Alabama at Birmingham's [UAB] Comprehensive 
Cancer Center, at least four cancer vaccine strategies are being 
developed. Two of these approaches are now in clinical trials open to 
patients. The other two are in development in preclinical animal 
studies.
  In 1993, the National Cancer Institute [NCI] and the UAB Cancer 
Center entered into a cooperative agreement which provided the center 
with $1.5 million in support over 5 years to conduct a series of cancer 
vaccine trials.
  The UAB Cancer Center is one of 27 such centers in the Nation that 
meets the high standards for comprehensive designation by the NCI, and 
it was one of the first eight so designated in 1973. Now in its 23d 
year of core grant support by the NCI, the UAB center was renewed this 
year for core funding over the next 5 years in the range of $27 
million. After meticulous review, the NCI also gave the center its 
highest priority rating based on program excellence.
  The trials currently under way at UAB include those for breast 
cancer, colon cancer, and melanoma. The traditional concept of 
vaccination is to protect against future exposure to disease. Through 
work such as that being done at UAB, this concept is now being extended 
to include therapeutic applications to stimulate the immune system to 
kill tumor cells or infections like AIDS that already are established 
in the body.
  I want to commend and congratulate the outstanding physicians and 
scientists at UAB who are working so hard to make the hope of a cancer 
vaccine a reality. I ask unanimous consent that an article detailing 
the colon cancer vaccine trials from the Birmingham Post-Herald be 
printed in the Record following my remarks.
                 New Vaccine Used To Fight Colon Cancer

                            (By John Staed)

       Birmingham scientists successfully used a vaccine to get 
     the body's immune system to fight colon cancer cells, marking 
     the first time in the world the therapy has worked on human 
     patients.
       The University of Alabama at Birmingham researchers also 
     reported plans to test a genetic vaccine for breast cancer in 
     women. The vaccine causes the immune system to recognize and 
     attack breast cancer tumor cells.
       Until now, vaccines have normally been used to prevent 
     diseases such as polio or mumps. This new approach by 
     scientists enhances the body's immune system responses to 
     existing diseases, said Dr. Albert LoBuglio, director of the 
     UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center. LoBuglio spoke yesterday 
     during a briefing on developments at the center and UAB's new 
     Vaccine Center.
       Among its projects, the vaccine center is examining ways to 
     develop immunizations for bugs that cause pneumonia, to 
     introduce vaccine doses in foods to lower immunization costs, 
     and to find new vaccines for infectious diseases that are 
     increasingly resistant to modern antibiotics.
       In the colon cancer research, four patients who had colon 
     cancer tumors surgically removed but who had a 60 percent 
     chance of recurrence were treated over 16 weeks with the new 
     vaccine.
       ``Two of the four have developed substantial immune 
     responses,'' LoBuglio said. ``We're hoping it translates into 
     an anti-tumor effect.''
       Colon cancer, or cancer of the large bowel and rectum, is 
     expected to be diagnosed in 149,000 people this year in the 
     United States. Together, the cancers of the colon and rectum 
     are second only to lung cancer as a cause of cancer deaths.
       About half of the colon cancers are cured by traditional 
     treatments. The genetic treatments came after patients had 
     gone through surgery alone or chemotherapy and surgery.
       Dr. Robert Conry, co-investigator with LoBuglio, said if 
     the vaccine proved successful through expanded studies, it 
     might be available for clinical use after five years. But, he 
     said, many more safety and reliability studies are needed.
       Scientists' expanding knowledge of the body's immune system 
     has been critical in development of the new treatments, Conry 
     said. This information ``is allowing us to, in a more 
     informed way, develop vaccines for infectious disease as well 
     as tumors,'' he said.
       The vaccines could help doctors ``harness the potential of 
     the immune system'' to treat cancers, Conry said. ``Since 
     these vaccines have little or no side effects, it will 
     provide a welcome alternative to chemotherapy, which has 
     significant side effects.''
       Cancer develops from the uncontrolled growth of cells 
     within the body. Normally, the body's immune system would 
     destroy disease, but cancer, because it developed from the 
     body's own cells, goes undetected.
       To trick the immune system into attacking the colon cancer 
     cells, scientists enlisted the help of the virus used to 
     eliminate smallpox, the vacinia virus, and a protein called 
     carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA).
       Scientists found a way to use insect cells to safely 
     produce the CEA protein.
       The smallpox vaccine with the CEA protein genetically added 
     to it triggers an immune response to malignant cells. The 
     scientists' goal is to prevent recurrence of colon cancer by 
     destroying remaining cancer cell ``floaters'' that are left 
     circulating in the body after surgery.
       In the breast cancer research, scientists will be using a 
     genetically engineered vaccine to both produce an immune 
     response to breast cancer cells and eradicate cancer cells.
       One woman has been selected to soon begin the anti-tumor 
     vaccine pilot study, and cancer center officials hope to 
     include 30 women in the trial.
       The women must have breast cancer that has spread, but that 
     is responding to hormonal treatments, said Janis Zeanah, a 
     spokeswoman for the cancer center.
       Women will be injected with a vaccine containing the CEA 
     protein. Scientists hope that it will cause the immune system 
     to respond the same way as it has in the colon cancer test 
     and destroy the cancerous cells.
     

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