NEW YORK, NY — June 4, 2002 —
Antigenics Inc. today announced positive findings from a quality of life study involving the company’s personalized cancer vaccine Oncophage® (HSPPC-96). Results from the prospective analysis, published in the June/July issue of Urologic Oncology, showed that the quality of life of metastatic kidney cancer patients receiving Oncophage remained stable or improved throughout the course of treatment and a four-week follow-up period. These findings are in addition to preliminary results demonstrating clinical responses in patients receiving Oncophage (reported previously).
“The development of an effective treatment that has fewer side effects is of vital importance for metastatic kidney cancer patients whose prognosis for long-term survival is poor,” said Jonathan Lewis, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of Antigenics. “Because of the lack of toxicity and favorable responses observed in clinical trials, Oncophage may be a particularly attractive alternative to the highly toxic cytokine immunotherapies and chemotherapies typically used to treat metastatic disease.”
Treatment for patients with stage IV kidney cancer typically involves surgery to remove the cancer (nephrectomy), followed by the physician’s choice of additional therapy, including immune therapies such as the cytokines interferon alpha and interleukin 2. Objective response rates to these treatments can range from 10 percent to 30 percent, but long-term survival rates remain low. Previous studies examining immunotherapy in patients with metastatic kidney cancer have demonstrated significant decreases in quality of life during treatment, with a high frequency of toxic side effects that can sometimes be permanent.
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