PROSTVAC immunotherapy is a heterologous prime-boost regimen of two different recombinant pox-virus vectors; vaccinia as the primary immunotherapy, followed by boosters employing fowlpox, to provoke immune responses against prostate-specific antigen.
Both vectors contain transgenes for prostate-specific antigen and a triad of T-cell costimulatory molecules (TRICOM). In a placebo-controlled Phase II trial of men with minimally symptomatic, chemotherapy-naive metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, PROSTVAC was well tolerated and associated with a 44% reduction in death. With a novel mechanism of action, and excellent tolerability, PROSTVAC has the potential to dramatically alter the treatment landscape of prostate cancer, not only as a monotherapy, but also in combination with other novel agents, such as immune check point inhibitors and novel androgen receptor blockers.
A Phase III trial recently completed accrual.
Future Oncol. 2015 Aug;11(15):2137-48. doi: 10.2217/fon.15.120.
Singh P1, Pal SK2, Alex A3, Agarwal N3.
1 Department of Medicine, University of Arizona Cancer Center,1515 N Campbell Avenue, Tucson, AZ, USA.
2 Medical Oncology & Experimental Therapeutics, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center,1500 Duarte Rd, Duarte, CA, USA.
3 Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of Utah Huntsman Cancer Institute, 1950 Circle of Hope, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA.