Vaccine Therapy Combined With Adjuvant Chemoradiotherapy in Treating Patients With Resected Stage I or Stage II Adenocarcinoma (Cancer) of the Pancreas

Phase 2

Completed

Conditions: Pancreatic Cancer

Interventions: Biological: GVAX pancreatic cancer vaccine

Registration Number: NCT00084383

Lead Sponsor: Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins

Brief Summary: RATIONALE: Vaccines made from gene-modified pancreatic cancer cells may make the body build an immune response to kill tumor cells. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as fluorouracil, work in different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to damage tumor cells. Giving vaccine therapy together with chemotherapy and radiation therapy after surgery may kill any remaining tumor cells.

PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well giving vaccine therapy together with adjuvant chemoradiotherapy works in treating patients with resected stage I or stage II adenocarcinoma (cancer) of the pancreas.

Detailed Description: OBJECTIVES:

Primary

* Determine overall and disease-free survival of patients with resected stage I or II adenocarcinoma of the pancreas treated with adjuvant chemoradiotherapy in combination with GVAX pancreatic cancer vaccine.

Secondary

* Correlate specific in vivo parameters of immune response (post-vaccination delayed-type hypersensitivity reactions to autologous tumor, mesothelin-specific T-cell response, and the degree of local eosinophil, macrophage, and T-cell infiltration at the vaccine site) with clinical responses in patients treated with this regimen.

* Determine the toxic effects associated with intradermal injections of this vaccine in these patients.

OUTLINE: This is an open-label study.

* Post surgery vaccination: Within 8-10 weeks after pancreaticoduodenectomy, patients receive GVAX pancreatic cancer vaccine intradermally (ID) on day 0.

* Adjuvant chemoradiotherapy: Within 16-28 days after the first vaccination, patients receive fluorouracil (5-FU) IV continuously for 3 weeks. Approximately 1-2 weeks after completion of 5-FU, patients receive chemoradiotherapy comprising radiotherapy daily and 5-FU IV continuously for 26-28 weeks. Approximately 3-5 weeks after completion of chemoradiotherapy, patients receive 5-FU IV continuously for 4 weeks. 5-FU repeats every 6 weeks for 2 courses.

* Post chemoradiotherapy vaccination: Within 4-8 weeks after the completion of chemoradiotherapy, patients receive GVAX pancreatic cancer vaccine ID on days 0, 28, 56, and 196.

Treatment continues in the absence of unacceptable toxicity.

Patients are followed every 3 months for 1 year and then every 6 months thereafter.

PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 60 patients will be accrued for this study.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status: COMPLETED

Sex: All

Target Recruitment: 60

Inclusion Criteria

Not provided

Exclusion Criteria

Not provided

Study & Design

Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL

Study Design: SINGLE_GROUP

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
GVAX pancreatic cancer vaccine	GVAX pancreatic cancer vaccine	5E8 vaccine cells. The first vaccination is administered 6-8 weeks after surgery. Four to eight weeks following the completion of the last cycle of adjuvant radiation and chemotherapy (chemo-radiation therapy is standard of care and not part of the protocol) eligible patients will receive three additional vaccinations at one month intervals. Patients who continue to remain disease-free will receive a fifth "booster" vaccination, six months following the fourth vaccination

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Overall Survival	Participants were followed for the duration of the study, an average of 2 years	Overall survival in patients treated with adjuvant chemoradiotherapy in sequence with the irradiated allogeneic GM-CSF transfected pancreatic tumor cell lines. Overall survival is defined as time from surgery until death, regardless of cause.
Disease-free Survival	Participants were followed for the duration of the study, an average of 2 years	Disease-free Survival in Patients Treated With Adjuvant Chemoradiotherapy in Sequence With the Irradiated Allogeneic GM-CSF Transfected Pancreatic Tumor Cell Lines. DFS is defined as time from surgery until clinical evidence of disease (eg, CT scan) or death due to any cause.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
To Further Identify and Characterize Toxicities Associated With Intradermal Injections of the Vaccine That Were Initially Reported in the Phase 1 Trial.	4 years
Estimate the Association of Specific in Vivo Parameters of Immune Response With Clinical Responses in Patients Treated With Combination Chemoradiotherapy Together With the Irradiated Allogeneic GM-CSF Transfected Pancreatic Tumor Cell Lines.	Continuous	The specific immune parameters include: post-vaccination delayed type hypersensitivity reactions to autologous tumor and the degree of local eosinophil, macrophage, and T cell infiltration at the vaccine site, and mesothelin-specific T cell responses.