Designed by the Cancer Research Institute in partnership with the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, the Cancer Vaccine Collaborative is an unprecedented network of clinical investigators and cancer vaccine trials worldwide that are learning how to effectively immunize against cancer. The ultimate goal will be the development of therapeutic cancer vaccines. And, with the recent addition of the Cancer Vaccine Consortium to our programs, academic Cancer Vaccine Collaborative members will find new opportunities for interaction and knowledge exchange with members of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Together, these two programs form a unified voice in the field of cancer vaccine research and development.
The CVC is a new model for clinical research that is viewed as the necessary “missing link” in biomedical research, filling a niche between academic laboratory discovery and industrial product development. Instead of conducting “stand-alone” research, the CVC connects renowned researchers, hospitals, and institutes together within a flexible but scientifically rigorous organizational structure that centralizes and standardizes clinical and laboratory data collection. Consequently, individual trials can be directly compared, thereby creating a pipeline for information and knowledge to move rapidly through the network, and thus accelerating the development of cancer vaccines.
CVC clinicians and laboratory scientist work together to create an atmosphere of cooperation that promotes scientific excellence and discovery.
The clinical trials model employed by the CVC differs significantly from the traditional paradigm of translating scientific discoveries into clinical therapies. Within the CVC, laboratory and clinical research are closely integrated so that the immunological response of patients to the various vaccines being tested in parallel trials can be measured in a standardized way from site to site, allowing for the direct comparison of various vaccine constructs.
This simultaneous and equivalent evaluation of many vaccine variables allows the CVC to continue the rational refinement and optimization of can
cer vaccines. This is in stark contrast to independently initiated trials outside the CVC, for which no mechanism of standardized data feedback has been established.
CVC clinicians and laboratory scientist work together to create an atmosphere of cooperation that promotes scientific excellence and discovery. The participants meet regularly to discuss their research, to share ideas, and to plot the course of the program.
The CVC currently encompasses 22 sites in 6 countries. Since the program’s inception in 2001, 22 trials have been completed. Presently, twelve CVC trials are testing vaccines for patients with melanoma, sarcoma, breast, ovarian, prostate, lung, and bladder cancers. In this manner, the CVC is systematically studying varying vaccine compositions of peptide, protein, or DNA versions of various target antigens, and several different adjuvants (immune stimulants) as well as differing immune strategies including timing, dosage levels, and delivery methods.
The coordinated network of academic research institutions that constitutes the CVC fills a long-neglected but essential niche in the discovery process. Through the CVC, the Institute is capable of conducting scientifically rigorous early-stage clinical investigations that are teaching the fundamentals of cancer vaccination and providing the spring board for the development of effective cancer vaccines that will be available as part of the oncologist’s standard arsenal to treat cancer.
Click here to see a list of current CVC sites, investigators, and clinical trials.