INGN 225 sees 50% Ph II response in late SCLC

In a recent Phase II study, about 50% of advanced small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) patients responded to Introgen Therapeutics' INGN 225 molecular cancer vaccine in combination with subsequent chemotherapy. Patients in the study achieved a 52% objective tumor response rate and 41% were still alive one year after receiving the immunotherapy.

According to the Austin, Texas, USA-based firm, historically, tumor responses to second-line chemotherapy are between 6%-30% and most patients survive for less than six months. The data imply that INGN 225 immunotherapy can sensitize cancer cells to the effects of chemotherapy restoring its effectiveness.

INGN 225 is a cancer vaccine containing the p53 gene, which is known to help restore normal cellular function and to promote apoptosis, or programmed cell death in abnormal cells such as cancer cells, allowing tumors to die when treated with chemotherapy.