This study is being done to determine whether it is possible to use an investigational vaccine that consists of dendritic cells in patients with pancreas cancer. Dendritic cells are immune cells that are obtained from your blood that are important in the body's immune response to foreign substances. The vaccine would be injected directly into a tumor that has spread to the liver after a short course of radiation therapy has been given to that tumor. The study will try to determine if this treatment would be safe and effective in treating this cancer. This is a phase 1 pilot study of this treatment. Phase 1 trials test the best way to give a treatment where little is known about its possible risks or benefits. Phase 2 studies then test the possible benefits of a treatment and may show the specific situations where they are seen. Promising treatments are then tested in Phase 3 trials which compare the new treatment to standard treatment in a larger group of patients. Phase 4 trials are those conducted on a treatment after it has been approved for general use outside of research. A pilot study tests a treatment in a small number of patients to learn if and how the treatment could be tested in a larger group. Pilot studies can be performed at any phase but are commonly performed in the earliest phases of research on a treatment.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NA
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
4
On day 1 of the study treatment, patients will begin tumoral irradiation, which will be given daily for 4 days in 6Gy fractions (days 1 through 4)
Three intra-tumoral injections of 1 ml cell suspensions of KLH (keyhole limpet hemocyanin)- pulsed DC (dendritic cells) will be delivered percutaneously under ultrasound into a selected hepatic metastasis in the outpatient setting.
Universtiy of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center
Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States
The Percentage of Participants That Patients Complete Radiation Therapy, All Three Vaccinations, and Evaluation for Tumor Response Four Weeks After the Third Vaccination.
The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the safety and feasibility of this combined modality protocol in patients with metastatic pancreatic carcinoma. The treatment will be deemed feasible if 80% or more patients complete radiation therapy, all three vaccinations, and evaluation for tumor response four weeks after the third vaccination.
Time frame: 10 weeks
Number of Patients That Respond to Treatment
To evaluate the anti-tumor response as determined by RECIST criteria
Time frame: 10 weeks
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