Cancer trials focused on protecting patients from COVID-19 infection

Ottawa-This summer, a national clinical trial will focus on protecting cancer patients from severe COVID-19 infections in an attempt to increase immune system risk.

Researchers at the Ottawa Hospital say they want to explore the potential of IMM-101, a drug that features a dead pathogen that contains properties that can stimulate the “first response arm” of the immune system.

Dr. Rebecca Auer, research leader and cancer oncologist and head of cancer research at Ottawa Hospital, said that while some COVID-19 patients are relatively asymptomatic, others receive intensive care and die. It may help professionals understand why they are doing it.

“The difference between these two different presentations has to do with how strong the innate or nonspecific first-line protective immune system response is to the virus,” Auer said Wednesday.

“We hope, therefore, that enhancing and stimulating this innate immune response will prevent symptomatic and serious infections, especially in vulnerable patients with a weakened immune response from the beginning.”

Chemotherapy, cancer surgery, and radiation therapy further suppress innate immunity, making cancer patients at a much higher risk of serious complications from COVID-19.

Auer points out the “urgent need” to protect the world while waiting for effective COVID-19 vaccines. This can take an additional year or more to develop, test, and implement.

Successful trials may also protect cancer patients from other respiratory infections and the coming flu season, Auer said. He points out that the threat of illness is a significant problem for those being treated.

“One study showed that during the average flu season, about 13-15% of cancer patients need to delay or stop treatment due to the flu,” she says.

“Also, cancer patients don’t respond to the influenza vaccine every year because their immune system isn’t so strong. We think that IMM-101 itself could help prevent symptomatic influenza infection.”

Auer says IMM-101 has also been tested elsewhere for its anti-cancer properties, which will also be considered in this trial, but this is not the main purpose.

Researchers say the bacterium, Mycobacterium obuense, has been killed by heat and can be safely used in cancer patients.

The Canadian study recruits 1,500 patients currently undergoing cancer treatment and participants are randomly assigned to receive either regular care or regular care and IMM-101.

According to Auer, the treatment is given as an injection into the arm, followed by two additional injections.

Researchers will follow patients for one year, monitor respiratory infections, and whether treatment is effective and for how long.

The trials will be held at eight centers in Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec.

Researchers say people interested in participating should talk to their oncologist.

Researchers at Ottawa Hospital came up with this idea and worked with the Canadian Cancer Trials Group at Queen’s University to design the trial.

Dr. Chris O’Callaghan of the Queen’s University Group says cancer patients are also at high risk for COVID-19 infections because they require regular medical care and make it difficult to fully comply with public health guidelines. ..

“These patients are unable to practice social isolation because they have to go to the hospital regularly to receive very important cancer treatments,” says O’Callaghan, who oversees the trial.

Auer notes that the successful trial of IMM-101 may also be useful in treating patients with a weakened innate immune system, such as elderly patients with chronic diseases.

She has tested a tuberculosis vaccine called BCG, which uses a formulation similar to IMM-101, but uses live bacteria in place of dead bacteria, to test health-care workers exposed to COVID. He says he is confirming whether he can boost immunity-19.

$2.8 million worth of cash and in-kind funds from the Canadian Cancer Society, BioCanRx, Ontario Cancer Institute, Ottawa Hospital Foundation, Ottawa Hospital Academic Medical Institution, ATGen Canada / NKMax, and Immodulon Therapeutics, IMM-101.

-By Cassandra Szklarski of Toronto

This report by Canadian Press was first published on July 8, 2020.