A vaccine to prolong remission for ovarian cancer, the most fatal of gynecological cancers, may soon become a reality for women diagnosed with the disease.
Dr. William P. Irvin, University health system associate professor of clinical obstetrics and gynecology, is enrolling women to test the new vaccine, aimed to extend patients' remission by priming the immune system to recognize abnormal ovarian cells.
Funded by the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund and the University Cancer Center, Irvin's study initially will test 11 newly diagnosed women who have completed surgery and chemotherapy to combat the disease.
Because researchers have not discovered specific antigens to create antibodies for ovarian cancer, Irvin's vaccine will be individually tailored to each patient's cancer, Irvin said.
With plans to vaccinate patients within the next four months, Irvin will follow the women for a year to track their immune response.
Irvin said he hopes that when the patient's cancer cells are injected back into the body, the patient's immune system will recognize the antigens unique to their ovarian malignancy and will therefore be stimulated to destroy any undetectable cancer cells lingering after treatment, he added.
"Clearly this does not represent a cure to ovarian cancer," Irvin said. "This represents one addition to the current armamentarium of treatment for ovarian cancer patients, specifically chemotherapy and surgery."
Irvin said he also plans to work on a second vaccine next year, hoping to identify specific antigens unique to all ovarian cancer victims. If found, doctors will be able to offer a generic vaccine to patients, rather than having to rely on individual ones.
According to American Cancer Society statistics, physicians will diagnose about 23,400 U.S. women with ovarian cancer in 2001. An estimated 13,900 of those women eventually will die from the disease, making it the fifth deadliest cancer for women, after lung, breast, colorectal and pancreatic cancers.
"Ovarian cancer is not the most common [gynecologic] malignancy, but it is the most lethal," said Jana Briedis-Ruiz, a University Health System gynecologic oncology nurse. "The mortality rate is so high because it is easy to overlook ... and the symptoms [including bloating and indigestion] are vague."
Unlike cervical cancer, which can be detected with a pap smear, there is no specific screening for ovarian cancer.
"Because the ovaries lie deep within the pelvis, early tumors are hard for even skilled doctors to find," according to the American Cancer Society Web site.
Because it is difficult to detect in its initial stage, many women are not treated for the disease until they are in Stage III when it has spread to the upper abdominal regions, Briedis-Ruiz said.
The chances of survival from ovarian cancer are better if the cancer is found early, according to the American Cancer Society.
"If the cancer is found and treated before it has spread outside the ovary, 95 percent of women will survive at least five years. However, only 25 percent of ovarian cancers are found at this early stage," as stated by the American Cancer Society.
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