Generex treats first patient with AE37 vacc

US firm Generex Biotechnology says that the first patient has received  its immunotherapeutic AE37 vaccine as part of a new combination regimen  approach for breast and ovarian cancer patients. This vaccine therapy is  designed to activate immune cells that can detect and destroy cancer  cells.  AE37 is being developed by the company's wholly-owned  immunotherapeutics subsidiary, Antigen Express.

The new Phase I clinical trial, being performed at the Mary Crowley  Cancer Research Centers in Dallas and the Brooke Army Medical Center in  San Antonio, will assess safety and immunological response in patients  with either breast and/or ovarian cancer. Patients in the study will be  clinically cancer free, having completed primary standard of care breast  and/or ovarian therapies.

AE37 specifically increases the ability of CD4+ T helper cells to  recognize HER-2/neu expressing cancer cells in immunized patients, which  should prompt the immune system to mount a robust anti-cancer response.  The cancers of all patients in these trials express some level of  HER-2/neu. An advantage of using this type of active immunotherapy, as  opposed to passive immunotherapy such as treatment with Herceptin  (trastuzumab), is that activated immune cells can detect and destroy  cancer cells expressing much lower levels of HER-2/neu than is needed  for recognition by Herceptin.