My Malignant Melanoma

A phase 2 trial of a new vaccine is under way, despite researchers saying they were going to give up on vaccines not so long ago as a result of their consistent failure in clinical trials after early promise.

Still,  Oncovex, (now catchily renamed as talimogene laherparepvec or T-VEC for short) seems to be looking good so far (early results are comparable to ipilimumab) - results of the phase III trial are due out later this year.

So, will SCIB1 or Oncovex break the mould? We will see. There have been so many failed MM vaccine contenders during the time since I was diagnosed, that I may be forgiven a little scepticism.

That commencing Phase 2 or even Phase III trials do not make something a cancer cure should be a lesson to those pushing quackery on the basis of at best weak Phase 1 trial evidence.

Labels: oncovex, scancell, SCIB1, T-VEC, talimogene laherparepvec, vaccine

Update on the top new MM treatments:

Allovectin-7

Immune system booster, Phase 3 trial had positive results


Oblimersen

Gene therapy, Phase 1 trial results just in- showed no responses at planned dosage


Ipilimumab

Antibody targeting CTLA-4-this is the only drug so far shown to prolong life, available both via open UK trials and for compassionate use


OncoVEX

A modified virus carrying a helpful gene, looks promising so far, there is an open UK Phase 3 Trial.

PLX4032

BRAF inhibitor - early trials showed high response rates but it seems that these responses may be short-lived, supporting the anecdotal reports which have been circulating on cancer patients' boards.

Did I say 5? Let's have a sixth/seventh- Glaxo's "me too" B-RAF and MEK inhibitors, presently in Phase 3 Trials.


Talking of MEK inhibitiors, whatever happened to AZD6244? There seems to be an open phase II trial, but no results as yet (MEK inhibitors work on a different link in the chain which B-RAF lies on, and similarly require B-RAF mutant tumours to work)

It might be that combination therapy with two of these agents would be more than twice as good as any on their own, but that would mean drugs companies cooperating instead of competing. Here's an occasion where we might wish the quacks' supposed "cancer conspiracy" were true, and drug companies really did act in concert.

Update- the combination trial is happening.

Labels: allovectin, AZD6244, BRAF, GSK212, GSK436, oblimersen.ipilimumab, oncovex, PLX4032

What is I presume a paid publicist over on the melanoma board has brought up the old Rigvir (supposed over-the-counter Latvian virus cure for MM) scam again.

The list of publications on the producer's website might look impressive to a non-scientist, but not one of them is published in a journal where fellow scientists get to exercise quality control over claims (what is known as peer-review). Despite being quoted as supposedly supporting the use of the "treatment", the overwhelming majority of the papers do not actually make any claims about the safety or effectiveness of the "therapy". It has never used been in any clinical trial, despite supposedly being developed forty years ago.

Confusingly, there is a real virus therapy for melanoma, Oncovex. What's the difference? There is evidence that Oncovex might work, and be safe. This is not the case for Rigvir. Be warned!

Labels: latvia, Melanoma, oncovex, rigvir, scam, virotherapy, virus

Not so long ago, the medical profession was saying that vaccines were universally ineffective against MM, and that researchers thinking of trying vaccines should think again.

But this week the results of the Oncovex vaccine trial have come back very positive.

These are interesting times for MM treatment, with several drugs and now even a vaccine showing great promise.

There is a UK Phase III trial of Oncovex, details here.

Labels: Clinical, oncovex, Trial, vaccine