Latest news with #Wainberg
Yahoo
11-08-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
One-size-fits-all pancreatic cancer vaccine showed promise in early trial
In an early trial, a one-size-fits-all vaccine showed promise in preventing hard-to-treat pancreatic cancers from coming back. Pancreatic cancer is of particular concern. The five-year survival rate is about 13%, and up to 80% of pancreatic cancers may come back. 'If you were to ask me what disease most needs something to prevent recurrences, I'd say this one,' said Dr. Zev Wainberg co-director of the University of California, Los Angeles, gastrointestinal oncology program, who co-led the Phase 1 clinical trial. The vaccine targets one of the most common genetic drivers of cancer: KRAS gene mutations. KRAS mutations occur in about one-quarter of all cancers, including as much as 90% of pancreatic cancers and about 40% of colorectal cancers. Their ubiquity makes KRAS mutations a great target for cancer therapies, but the mutations have long been considered impossible to target with drugs. To accomplish this, the vaccine uses short chains of amino acids called peptides that teach immune cells to recognize and attack cells with KRAS mutations. 'The critical step is engaging an immune response,' Wainberg said. Cancer vaccines are a growing field of research, but many of these vaccines are personalized to the patient. This means their tumor must be sequenced for a specialized vaccine to be created. The vaccine in the current study, however, doesn't need to be personalized and would be available off the shelf. Killing lingering cancer cells In the Phase 1 trial, published Monday in Nature Medicine, Wainberg and a team of doctors from across the country recruited 20 people with pancreatic cancer and five with colorectal cancer. (They chose to also include a few colorectal cancer patients because KRAS mutations are also a common driver of colorectal cancers, and people whose colorectal cancer is driven by these mutations are more likely to have a recurrence, Wainberg said.) Everyone in the trial had KRAS mutations and had undergone standard treatment — usually chemotherapy and surgery — to remove the bulk of their tumors. After surgery, blood tests showed that a smattering of cancer cells remained behind, referred to as microscopic residual disease, which is very common with pancreatic cancer. 'We are talking about cancer that is so microscopic that we can't see it on scans,' said Dr. Scott Kopetz, a professor of gastrointestinal medical oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. These cells can travel elsewhere in the body and grow into metastasized tumors, prompting an often fatal cancer recurrence. Chemotherapy can kill some of these cells, but some usually remain in the body. 'Realistically, if we want to kill every last cancer cell and really make people cured, you need to engage the immune system,' said Stephanie Dougan, an associate professor of cancer immunology and virology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. 'We've just been really bad at getting an immune response in pancreatic cancer.' Post-surgery, everyone in the trial got up to six priming doses of the experimental vaccine, called ELI-002 2P. Thirteen also received booster shots. The whole process took 6 months. About 85% — 21 of the 25 participants — mounted an immune response to the KRAS mutations, and about two-thirds of those patients had an immune response that appeared to be robust enough to stave off lingering cancer cells. What's more, in nearly 70% of people in the trial, the vaccine appeared to trigger an immune response not just to KRAS mutations, but to other tumor cell targets that were not in the vaccine. A few people were 'super-responders' who mounted an abnormally strong immune response to the cells. 'Those people had the best outcomes,' Wainberg said. His team is currently running a randomized Phase 2 trial to test the durability of the vaccine and compare whether the vaccine is more effective than the standard of care, which would usually be monitoring the patient for a recurrence. In the Phase 1 trial, people with pancreatic cancer survived for an average of 29 months and lived recurrence-free for more than 15 months post-vaccination. 'That far exceeds the rates with resectable cancers,' said Wainberg, referring to cancers that can be removed with surgery. A growing field Cancer vaccines have been incredibly difficult to make, in part because cancer cells have a lot of the same proteins as healthy cells, making safe targets difficult to come by. Only recently has medical technology made the strides researchers needed to hone the treatment. Refined mRNA technology and gene sequencing becoming faster and cheaper has put cancer vaccines back into clinical trials, Dougan said. Personalized mRNA cancer vaccines are showing promise in both pancreatic and colorectal cancers, but a one-size-fits-all cancer vaccine would make treatment faster and cheaper. Past trials using peptide vaccines have failed to prevent cancer recurrences. But the peptides in the new vaccine, called lipophilic peptides, have something past treatments did not — a tail. 'That tail sticks in the lymph nodes where immune cells get activated,' Dougan said. 'You need something to get the immune system going, and just injecting killed cancer cells or peptides doesn't work that well.' More advanced clinical trials will have to confirm the results of the Phase 1 trial, but promising results have been seen in other cancer vaccine trials as well and could pave the way for major breakthroughs in preventing cancer recurrences. Memorial Sloan Kettering is also working on an off-the-shelf vaccine that targets a gene mutation found in 95% of people with acute myeloid leukemia. The data from the KRAS-targeting vaccine trial published Monday showed it is likely possible to target these mutations with nonpersonalized vaccines, something researchers long thought was impossible. 'The fact that the long-term survival really correlated with T-cell response suggests that the vaccine caused this,' Dougan said, referring to the specific immune cells activated by the vaccine. 'The idea that you can target KRAS is really exciting.' This article was originally published on Solve the daily Crossword
NBC News
11-08-2025
- Health
- NBC News
One-size-fits-all pancreatic cancer vaccine showed promise in early trial
In an early trial, a one-size-fits-all vaccine showed promise in preventing hard-to-treat pancreatic cancers from coming back. Pancreatic cancer is of particular concern. The five-year survival rate is about 13%, and over 80% of pancreatic cancers come back. 'If you were to ask me what disease most needs something to prevent recurrences, I'd say this one,' said Dr. Zev Wainberg co-director of the University of California, Los Angeles, gastrointestinal oncology program, who co-led the Phase 1 clinical trial. The vaccine targets one of the most common genetic drivers of cancer: KRAS gene mutations. KRAS mutations occur in about one-quarter of all cancers, including as much as 90% of pancreatic cancers and about 40% of colorectal cancers. Their ubiquity makes KRAS mutations a great target for cancer therapies, but the mutations have long been considered impossible to target with drugs. To accomplish this, the vaccine uses short chains of amino acids called peptides that teach immune cells to recognize and attack cells with KRAS mutations. 'The critical step is engaging an immune response,' Wainberg said. Cancer vaccines are a growing field of research, but many of these vaccines are personalized to the patient. This means their tumor must be sequenced for a specialized vaccine to be created. The vaccine in the current study, however, doesn't need to be personalized and would be available off the shelf. Killing lingering cancer cells In the Phase 1 trial, published Monday in Nature Medicine, Wainberg and a team of doctors from across the country recruited 20 people with pancreatic cancer and five with colorectal cancer. (They chose to also include a few colorectal cancer patients because KRAS mutations are also a common driver of colorectal cancers, and people whose colorectal cancer is driven by these mutations are more likely to have a recurrence, Wainberg said.) Everyone in the trial had KRAS mutations and had undergone standard treatment — usually chemotherapy and surgery — to remove the bulk of their tumors. After surgery, blood tests showed that a smattering of cancer cells remained behind, referred to as microscopic residual disease, which is very common with pancreatic cancer. 'We are talking about cancer that is so microscopic that we can't see it on scans,' said Dr. Scott Kopetz, a professor of gastrointestinal medical oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. These cells can travel elsewhere in the body and grow into metastasized tumors, prompting an often fatal cancer recurrence. Chemotherapy can kill some of these cells, but some usually remain in the body. 'Realistically, if we want to kill every last cancer cell and really make people cured, you need to engage the immune system,' said Stephanie Dougan, an associate professor of cancer immunology and virology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. 'We've just been really bad at getting an immune response in pancreatic cancer.' Post-surgery, everyone in the trial got up to six priming doses of the experimental vaccine, called ELI-002 2P. Thirteen also received booster shots. The whole process took 6 months. About 85% — 21 of the 25 participants — mounted an immune response to the KRAS mutations, and about two-thirds of those patients had an immune response that appeared to be robust enough to stave off lingering cancer cells. What's more, in nearly 70% of people in the trial, the vaccine appeared to trigger an immune response not just to KRAS mutations, but to other tumor cell targets that were not in the vaccine. A few people were 'super-responders' who mounted an abnormally strong immune response to the cells. 'Those people had the best outcomes,' Wainberg said. His team is currently running a randomized Phase 2 trial to test the durability of the vaccine and compare whether the vaccine is more effective than the standard of care, which would usually be monitoring the patient for a recurrence. In the Phase 1 trial, people with pancreatic cancer survived for an average of 29 months and lived recurrence-free for more than 15 months post-vaccination. 'That far exceeds the rates with resectable cancers,' said Wainberg, referring to cancers that can be removed with surgery. A growing field Cancer vaccines have been incredibly difficult to make, in part because cancer cells have a lot of the same proteins as healthy cells, making safe targets difficult to come by. Only recently has medical technology made the strides researchers needed to hone the treatment. Refined mRNA technology and gene sequencing becoming faster and cheaper has put cancer vaccines back into clinical trials, Dougan said. Personalized mRNA cancer vaccines are showing promise in both pancreatic and colorectal cancers, but a one-size-fits-all cancer vaccine would make treatment faster and cheaper. Past trials using peptide vaccines have failed to prevent cancer recurrences. But the peptides in the new vaccine, called lipophilic peptides, have something past treatments did not — a tail. 'That tail sticks in the lymph nodes where immune cells get activated,' Dougan said. 'You need something to get the immune system going, and just injecting killed cancer cells or peptides doesn't work that well.' More advanced clinical trials will have to confirm the results of the Phase 1 trial, but promising results have been seen in other cancer vaccine trials as well and could pave the way for major breakthroughs in preventing cancer recurrences. Memorial Sloan Kettering is also working on an off-the-shelf vaccine that targets a gene mutation found in 95% of people with acute myeloid leukemia. The data from the KRAS-targeting vaccine trial published Monday showed it is likely possible to target these mutations with nonpersonalized vaccines, something researchers long thought was impossible. 'The fact that the long-term survival really correlated with T-cell response suggests that the vaccine caused this,' Dougan said, referring to the specific immune cells activated by the vaccine. 'The idea that you can target KRAS is really exciting.'
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Leap Therapeutics to Host Virtual KOL Event to Discuss Sirexatamab (DKN-01) in Second-line Patients with Advanced Microsatellite Stable Colorectal Cancer
Virtual KOL Event on Wednesday, April 23, 2025, at 2:30 p.m. ET CAMBRIDGE, Mass., April 15, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Leap Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: LPTX), a biotechnology company focused on developing targeted and immuno-oncology therapeutics, today announced it will host a virtual key opinion leader (KOL) event featuring Zev A. Wainberg, MD, Professor of Medicine at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and co-director of the UCLA GI Oncology Program, on Wednesday, April 23, 2025 at 2:30 p.m. ET. To register, please click here. Dr. Wainberg will connect with Leap's Chief Medical Officer, Cynthia Sirard, MD, to discuss the unmet need and how sirexatamab (DKN-01) may improve upon the current treatment landscape for previously treated patients with advanced microsatellite stable (MSS) colorectal cancer (CRC). The event will focus on reviewing the positive data from Part B of the Phase 2 DeFianCe study of sirexatamab in second-line patients with advanced MSS CRC. Sirexatamab, Leap's most advanced clinical program, is a humanized monoclonal antibody targeting the Dickkopf-1 (DKK1) protein. A live Q&A will follow the discussion. A replay of the event will be available for a limited time on the Investors page of the Company's website at About Zev A. Wainberg, MDZev A. Wainberg, MD, is the Professor of Medicine at UCLA and co-director of the UCLA GI Oncology Program. He was trained in medical oncology and hematology at UCLA. He completed his residency training at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and received his MD from the Sackler School of Medicine, New York Program at Tel Aviv University. His research involves a variety of clinical trials in multiple gastrointestinal cancers including pancreas, colon, gastric, and esophageal. Dr. Wainberg's laboratory-based research efforts involve the testing of novel therapeutics against all gastrointestinal cancers. Currently, he is the recipient of several grants focused on the targeting of cancer stem cells and in molecular classification of gastrointestinal cancers. About Leap TherapeuticsLeap Therapeutics (Nasdaq: LPTX) is focused on developing targeted and immuno-oncology therapeutics. Leap's most advanced clinical candidate, sirexatamab (DKN-01), is a humanized monoclonal antibody targeting the Dickkopf-1 (DKK1) protein. Sirexatamab is being studied in patients with colorectal cancer. Leap's pipeline also includes FL-501, a humanized monoclonal antibody targeting the growth and differentiation factor 15 (GDF-15) protein, in preclinical development. For more information about Leap Therapeutics, visit or view our public filings with the SEC that are available via EDGAR at or via FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTSThis press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Such statements are based upon current plans, estimates and expectations of the management of Leap that are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements. The inclusion of forward-looking statements should not be regarded as a representation that such plans, estimates and expectations will be achieved. Words such as "anticipate," "expect," "project," "intend," "believe," "may," "will," "should," "plan," "could," "continue," "target," "contemplate," "estimate," "forecast," "guidance," "predict," "possible," "potential," "pursue," "likely," and words and terms of similar substance used in connection with any discussion of future plans, actions or events identify forward-looking statements. All statements, other than historical facts, including statements regarding the potential safety, efficacy, and regulatory and clinical progress of Leap's product candidates; the size of the potential addressable market for sirexatamab, including the number or percentage of patients with advanced CRC that have or are likely to have high levels of DKK1 or that have not had or are likely not to have prior anti-VEGF therapy; the anticipated timing for initiation or completion of clinical trials and release of clinical trial data and the expectations surrounding the outcomes thereof; Leap's future clinical or preclinical product development plans for any of Leap's product candidates; Leap's estimations of projected cash runway; and any assumptions underlying any of the foregoing, are forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from Leap's plans, estimates or expectations could include, but are not limited to: (i) the results of Leap's clinical trials and pre-clinical studies, including whether the final data from Part B of the DeFianCe study or Part C of the DisTinGuish study are the same as the initial data reported, (ii) the actual size of the potential addressable market for sirexatamab, including the number or percentage of patients with advanced CRC that have or are likely to have high levels of DKK1 or that have not had or are likely not to have prior anti-VEGF therapy, may be smaller than estimated, (iii) Leap's ability to successfully finance or enter into new strategic partnerships for sirexatamab or any of its other programs; (iv) any regulatory feedback that Leap may receive from U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or equivalent foreign regulatory agency with respect to the registrational Phase III clinical trials that Leap proposes to conduct using sirexatamab for the treatment of patients with second-line CRC or with respect to any other pre-clinical or clinical development activities that Leap will be required to conduct in order to obtain regulatory approval of sirexatamab for the treatment of second-line CRC; (v) whether any Leap products will receive approval from the FDA or equivalent foreign regulatory agencies; and (vi) exposure to inflation and interest rate fluctuations, as well as fluctuations in the market price of Leap's traded securities. New risks and uncertainties may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible to predict all risks and uncertainties. No representations or warranties (expressed or implied) are made about the accuracy of any such forward-looking statements. Leap may not actually achieve the forecasts disclosed in such forward-looking statements, and you should not place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are subject to a number of material risks and uncertainties including but not limited to those set forth under the caption "Risk Factors" in Leap's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC, as well as discussions of potential risks, uncertainties, and other important factors in its subsequent filings with the SEC. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it was made. Neither Leap, nor any of its affiliates, advisors or representatives, undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing Leap's views as of any date subsequent to the date hereof. CONTACT: Douglas E. OnsiPresident & Chief Executive OfficerLeap Therapeutics, Inc.617-714-0360donsi@ Matthew DeYoungInvestor RelationsArgot Partners212-600-1902leap@ View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Leap Therapeutics, Inc. Sign in to access your portfolio
