Eligibility for 2B adult glioblastoma study
*Please note that this trial is not currently accruing new patients at this time.
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(pediatric brain tumors or neuroendocrine tumors)
The word immunotherapy refers to a group of treatments designed to help your own immune system fight disease. Vaccines are one type of immunotherapy. Some vaccines (such as the flu vaccine) can help prevent disease. Other vaccines are therapeutic — designed to treat a disease, such as cancer, after you already have it.
Robert Fenstermaker, MD, Chair Emeritus of Neurosurgery at Roswell Park, and Michael Ciesielski, PhD, Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery, have developed an immunotherapy for glioblastoma, a type of aggressive brain tumor. The immunotherapeutic vaccine is called SurVaxM.
How does SurVaxM work?
Glioblastoma and most other types of cancer produce a molecule called survivin, which helps the cancer cells resist traditional cancer treatments. SurVaxM stimulates the patient’s immune system to produce white blood cells and antibodies that can recognize and attack tumor cells that contain survivin, thus shutting down the cancer cell’s ability to use survivin as a lifeline.
SurVaxM is given as an injection in the arm after the patient has had surgery and completed radiation treatment. The patient receives four injections over a period of six weeks, followed by one every two months for as long as the their tumor remains in check.
The thing that makes Roswell Park so great is that they’re preeminent in the research field. The reputation is great, but it’s only great because they care so much about the patients.
After her diagnosis of glioblastoma, Tracey Kassman faced the reality that her life may be ending sooner than expected. Patients with this disease have an average life expectancy of 12-18 months. Then she enrolled in the SurVaxM clinical trial at Roswell Park — three years ago.
What have the SurVaxM studies shown?
Research to develop the vaccine began more than a decade ago at Roswell Park, with clinical trials initiated in 2012. In 2022, the research team reported findings from a single-arm phase 2A study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology showing that the vaccine, when combined with standard therapy, resulted in significantly longer survival than would be expected with standard therapy alone in glioblastoma patients. In 2024, SurVaxM received Fast-Track status from FDA.
The follow-up phase 2B randomized SURVIVE trial has been underway at Roswell Park and other centers across the United States for several years. This trial has recently been completed and results are undergoing a detailed analysis. Therefore, the trial is not enrolling additional patients at this time. SurVaxM is being evaluated in early-phase studies for certain other cancers as well.
We understand how frightening a brain tumor diagnosis can be. Contact us for a consultation by calling 1-800-ROSWELL (1-800-767-9355) or filling out one of the forms above, and let’s talk about how we can help.
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Help accelerate the pace of SurvaxM clinical trials. Donations to the Roswell Park Alliance Foundation helped make early phase SurVaxM clinical studies possible and will continue to accelerate the pace and scope of future SurVaxM clinical trials. Make a potentially life changing contribution to this critical effort today.