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| Mitchell Sokoloff, MD |
Mitchell Sokoloff, MD, chair and professor of urology, spoke to WBZ TV’s Dr. Mallika Marshall about a new prostate cancer vaccine in a phase III clinical trial at UMass Medical School. Prostate cancer is the leading cancer among men and is highly treatable, but recurrences are not uncommon.
The vaccine being tested, ProstAtak, was developed by Newton-based biopharmaceutical company Advantagene, whose CEO Estuardo Aguilar-Cordova, MD, has been working on development of the drug for 20 years. UMMS is the only clinical trial site for the vaccine in New England.
“We’re putting a gene into the prostate, where it produces a protein—a molecule. And then we give a drug that targets that molecule. The idea is that you’re turning that patient’s cancer into a self-destruct button,” said Dr. Sokoloff, who is overseeing the clinical trial here.
Patients who recover from intermediate or high risk prostate cancer have a 30 percent chance of a recurrence. Earlier small clinical trials of ProstAtak show that recurrences are reduced by up to 75 percent.
“I’m extremely excited about trials like this. As a surgeon, as someone who treats prostate cancer, you can do the best operation possible and have the best patient possible, but there is still this 25 to 30 percent chance of recurrence,” added Sokoloff.
See the complete story here: Newton Company Develops Prostate Cancer Vaccine
