19/03/2017

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DKTK Essen: Argentine hemorrhagic fever vaccine effective against tumors

Scientists are a step closer to discovering a vaccine that works on tumors. Researchers from the Medical Faculty at Duisburg-Essen University (UDE) and the German Cancer Consortium (DKTK) have demonstrated in cancer models that immune cells stimulated by Candid#1, a vaccine used in Argentina, are capable of killing cancer cells. The results are presented in the latest issue of the journal Nature Communications.

In the German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) is serving as a core center that joins up with university institutes and hospitals all over Germany that are specialized in research and treatment with a focus on oncological diseases.

The living vaccine "candid#1" is injected into the tumor attracting immune cells which attack the cancer cells. © Karl Lang/Uniklinikum Essen

The vaccine was originally developed against Argentine hemorrhagic fever, an infectious disease. “When the vaccine is administered, it replicates in the tumor cells and draws the immune cells to the tumor, where they inhibit its growth, sometimes leading to complete tumor regression,” explains Prof. Karl-Sebastian Lang, Director of the Institute of Immunology within the Medical Faculty at Essen University Hospital. The vaccine’s effectiveness will now be tested in a clinical trial.

 The pioneering findings were achieved in close collaboration with the Clinic for Internal Medicine (Tumor Research), the Ear, Nose and Throat Clinic and the Clinic for Dermatology. Another key factor was that Dr Halime Kalkavan from the Clinic for Internal Medicine (Tumor Research) was able to work intensively on the research project at the Institute of Immunology for a year, thanks to an internal research grant from UDE’s Medical Faculty.

 “Thanks to the close alliance between excellent fundamental research and clinical cancer research at Essen University Hospital’s West German Cancer Center, we hope we will soon be able to use these new treatments on the wards,” says Prof. Martin Schuler, Director of the Clinic for Internal Medicine (Tumor Research) and spokesman for the DKTK’s Essen/Düsseldorf partner location.

Immunology, infectious disease medicine and oncology are key research areas of UDE’s Medical Faculty at Essen University Hospital. The Charité Medical Center in Berlin was also involved in the study. Both institutions are members of the DKTK.