A world-first clinical trial in Australia will test cancer vaccines developed for children with advanced or treatment-resistant brain tumours.
The trials for what is known as the PaedNEO-VAX study will conducted in eight paediatric hospitals in Queensland, South Australia, NSW, Victoria and Western Australia.
Brain tumours kill more Australian children than any other disease.
Clinical lead, Professor Jordan Hansford, from SAHMRI and Adelaide University, said the trial was available for paediatric patients with relapsed and unresponsive high-grade tumours, medulloblastoma, ependymoma, high-grade glioma and newly diagnosed diffuse midline glioma.
“Families should ask their child’s oncologist for information about the trial, with about half of all participants screened likely to be suitable,” he said.
“This is a new, personalised approach to treating these especially difficult brain cancers that we believe has huge potential.”
The study is co-led by The University of Queensland and the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) and partnered with mRNA medicines platform company Providence Therapeutics.
Professor Hansford said Phase I of the trial would help determine the safest and most effective dose.
This would be followed by Phase II, which would assess “how well the treatment works including whether it slows cancer progression and improves overall survival and quality of life for participating children and their families”.
Scientific lead Professor Brandon Wainwright, from UQ’s Frazer Institute, said personalised mRNA cancer vaccines had shown promising results in adults with rare and hard-to-treat cancers, including pancreatic cancer and melanoma.
“We are excited that after many years of research in our laboratory, we might offer a glimmer of hope for children with some of the most aggressive and treatment-resistant tumours,’’ Professor Wainwright said.
“After identifying unique cancer markers in each child’s tumour using genome sequencing and advanced data analysis, we will select tumour-specific vaccine targets.”
Professor Wainwright said customised vaccines for each child would be manufactured in Queensland by Southern RNA and then sent to the trial sites for dosing.
Customised vaccine were expected to be ready within about 10 weeks of a child enrolling in the trial.
The Australia and New Zealand Children’s Haematology and Oncology Group (ANZCHOG) is the trial sponsor and will manage the study.
The trial has received funding from the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF), with platform mRNA technology and investment coming from Providence Therapeutics.
The trial was supported by a $2.578 million investment from the Australian Government.
More details are available here
