Overview
- The Nature Cancer paper reports a nine-patient phase 1 study of GNOS-PV01 that found the vaccine was safe and activated the immune system in glioblastoma.
- Researchers at Washington University and Mass General Brigham ran the single-arm trial at Siteman Cancer Center and saw increased immune-cell activity in all participants except one on an immune-suppressing steroid.
- The DNA vaccine encodes up to about 40 patient-specific neoantigens chosen by a Washington University algorithm, aiming to make tumors visible to immune attack.
- Clinical signals were encouraging in this small cohort, with two-thirds progression-free at six months, two-thirds alive at one year, two-thirds alive at two years, and one patient recurrence-free nearly five years after diagnosis.
- Investigators emphasize that larger, controlled studies are needed and say combination-therapy trials using this personalized platform are underway to test whether outcomes can improve.