TeloVac trial for pancreatic cancer
I have read about a trial using a vaccine, called GV1001, for pancreatic cancer. Can you tell me more about this?
On this page there is information about
GV1001 is a vaccine treatment that is being tested in clinical trials. The GV1001 vaccine for pancreatic cancer is new and experimental, so it is only available as part of clinical trials. It has shown some promise as a treatment for pancreatic cancer in early trials.
A phase 3 trial called TeloVac recently closed in the UK. It recruited 1,110 people with advanced pancreatic cancer who could not have surgery because their cancer had spread to an area near to the pancreas, or to elsewhere in the body. This trial aims to find out if adding GV1001 to combination chemotherapy treatment with gemcitabine and capecitabine will help people with advanced pancreatic cancer to live for longer. People who had treatment as part of this trial are now being monitored to find out what effect the TeloVac has. The researchers will also look at the side effects to find out how treatment affects their quality of life. Please note that it is unlikely that GV1001 will cure people of their pancreatic cancer.
There are 3 treatment groups in the trial and the trial is randomised. The people taking part were put into the different treatment groups by a computer. Neither the patient nor their doctor could decide which group they were in.
People in group 1 had gemcitabine and capecitabine together over a total of 8 weeks. This is widely used treatment for advanced pancreatic cancer.
People in group 2 had gemcitabine and capecitabine together, over a period of 8 weeks (the same chemotherapy as group 1). They then began a course of GV1001 vaccine injections.
People in group 3 had the same gemcitabine and capecitabine treatment as groups 1 and 2. But they started their course of GV1001 vaccine from the first week of chemotherapy.
People in the trial need to visit hospital nearly every week.
You have GV1001 as an injection under the skin into the lower part of your tummy (abdomen). You also have an injection of growth factor, called GM-CSF, about 15 minutes before the GV1001 and into the same area. The growth factor boosts the number of white blood cells in the body, which the researchers think may improve the way the vaccine works.
The side effects of GV1001 and GM-CSF injections include
- A mild temporary rash at the injection site
- Flu like symptoms, such as aching muscles and a high temperature
You can take paracetamol to relieve the flu like symptoms.
There is detailed information about this trial on our clinical trials database. Use this link and select 'pancreatic' from the dropdown menu.
There is more information about treating pancreatic cancer in the pancreatic cancer section of CancerHelp UK.
Increase text
Decrease text
Print this page
