Dr. Petrylak Describes the Investigation of PROSTVAC

Daniel P. Petrylak, MD, director, Prostate and Genitourinary Cancer Program, co-director, Signal Transduction Research Program, at the Smilow Cancer Center at Yale-New Haven, describes the clinical investigation of the immunotherapeutic vaccine PROSTVAC in men with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC).

PROSTVAC is a prostate-specific antigen-targeted poxvirus vaccine currently being evaluated in men with CRPC, Petrylak explains. In a phase II trial, 125 patients were randomized 2:1 to receive PROSTVAC or a placebo. In those treated with PROSTVAC, the median overall survival was 8.5 months. However, similar to trials investigating the immunotherapy sipuleucel-T, the progression-free survival was similar between the two groups.

Based on this success, the phase III PROSPECT trial is under way examining PROSTVAC with or without GM-CSF in asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic CRPC. This trial is currently active and ongoing and hopes to enroll more than a thousand participants who have not receive prior treatment with an immunotherapy, Petrylak notes.