ImmunoCellular Therapeutics, Ltd, announced that its dendritic cell-based vaccination with cancer stem cells (CSCs) demonstrated a statistically significant survival benefit in a preclinical animal model of glioblastoma. The rats were either immunized with cancer stem cells (CSCs) from a brain cancer tumour or the daughter cells (the bulk of the tumour), and results showed that those immunized with the CSCs had a median survival of 50 days compared to 29 days for daughter cells. Furthermore, 30 per cent of animals vaccinated against cancer stem cells demonstrated long term survival as compared to animals vaccinated with the bulk of the tumour, all of which died.

“We are excited by the study’s results, as it represents a significant step forward in the continued development of our cancer stem cell based vaccines,” said Dr Manish Singh, president and CEO of ImmunoCellular Therapeutics. “The data further validates our research indicating that targeting CSCs has the potential to be a highly effective method of treating various cancers.” The data also demonstrated increased Gamma-Interferon levels in animals treated with CSCs, indicating an increased immune response consistent with increase in survival further supporting the mechanism of action of this approach.

The company’s recently completed phase-I trial of its lead cancer vaccination product candidate ICT-107, an active immunotherapy developed from studies conducted by ImmunoCellular Therapeutics, showed that targeting certain specific antigens that are highly expressed on cancer stem cells (CSCs) can lead to significant benefit in progression free survival as well as overall survival in glioblastoma patients.

IMUC is a Los Angeles-based clinical-stage company that is developing immune-based therapies for the treatment of brain and other cancers.