For Immediate Release
March 14, 2008

BUFFALO, NY − The Ovarian Cancer Research Fund has awarded a $900,000 research grant to Kunle Odunsi, MD, Department of Gynecologic Oncology  and his colleagues at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) to collaborate on developing a promising vaccine to unleash the power of the immune system against cancer. The prestigious award will help Dr. Odunsi and the RPCI research team combine four different approaches, all designed to enhance the immune system’s response to ovarian cancer.

Ovarian cancers are usually fatal within five years, despite extensive surgery and chemotherapy used to treat them. Dr. Odunsi’s team previously tested an experimental anti-tumor vaccine in 18 women who had surgery to remove their ovarian tumors and who were receiving chemotherapy. The vaccine did not cure the cancer, but it did get the immune system to make antibodies and specialized cells with the capacity to kill ovarian cancer targets. The vaccine also appeared to lengthen the time until tumors reappeared.

Dr. Odunsi, who is a gynecologic cancer surgeon as well as a cancer researcher, feels that “one of the most challenging malignancies in women is cancer of the ovaries, because about 70% of patients present initially with advanced-stage disease.” Explaining that a vaccine might help, he said, “I look at all of us as cancer survivors. Cancer cells are constantly being formed, but the immune system keeps them in check.”

The new grant will allow Dr. Odunsi and his collaborators to combine their efforts to make the vaccine work better. For the vaccine to work, cancer cells must have a foreign protein on their surface so they stand out from normal cells. The collaborative effort will explore ways to keep cancer cells from hiding from the immune system and to heighten the immune system’s ability to respond to the vaccine. Positive results may allow the researchers to move ahead to large-scale clinical trials.

Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI), founded in 1898, is the nation’s first cancer research, treatment and education center and is the only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center in Upstate New York. RPCI is a member of the prestigious National Comprehensive Cancer Network, an alliance of the nation’s leading cancer centers. RPCI has affiliate sites and collaborative programs in New York, Pennsylvania, and China. For more information, visit RPCI’s website at www.roswellpark.org, call 1-877-ASK-RPCI (1-877-275-7724) or e-mail askrpci@roswellpark.org.

 

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