The Tulane Cancer Center is the first site in the country and the only site in the Gulf South to offer a Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG) phase II clinical trial for a vaccine to fight a particular type of lung cancer, bronchoalveolar carcinoma (BAC).

Patients enrolled in the study will undergo a surgical procedure to remove a small sample of tissue from their lung tumors. These tumor cells will be genetically modified to create a patient-specific vaccine, called GVAX lung cancer vaccine, which will be injected under the skin every two weeks for a total of 10 weeks.

"This type of immunotherapy for cancer is based on the premise that the immune system can be stimulated to attack the patient's tumors," says Raja Mudad, Tulane hematologist/medical oncologist and a lead investigator in this national study. "We hope to discover whether the vaccine can improve survival of patients with BAC and how it will affect the patients' overall quality of life."

In this study, researchers will be looking at the effects of the vaccine in two different groups of advanced stage BAC patients: those who have received chemotherapy or other treatments for BAC in the past and those who have not received any other treatments. BAC is a subtype of non-small cell lung cancer that is increasing in incidence. It is more common in women, non-smokers and younger patients than other non-small cell lung cancers. The median survival for patients with advanced stage BAC is about 15 months, and BAC is generally less responsive to chemotherapy so physicians are looking for alternative treatment strategies for this type of lung cancer. Up to 20 centers across the United States expect to enroll approximately 100 patients with BAC in the study.

Vaccines, antibodies and immune therapies are active areas of cancer research. Tulane has immune-based clinical trials open in several tumor types. The Southwest Oncology Group is one of the largest National Cancer Institute-supported cancer clinical trials cooperative groups in the United States.

For more information on this lung cancer vaccine trial, contact the Tulane Cancer Center's Office of Clinical Research at (504) 988-6121.