Source: www.cancertreatment.net
Author: Ross Bonander

Advaxis is announcing the enrollment of patients into the REALISTIC Phase I/II trial sponsored by Cancer Research UK to evaluate ADXS-HPV for the treatment of HPV-positive head and neck cancer. HPV has been linked to as many as seventy percent of all head and neck cancers.

ADXS-HPV is a next-generation immunotherapy that acts as a therapeutic vaccine and is being tested in trials against HPV-associated diseases, including cervical cancers.

Cancer Research UK assumes all patient costs. Advaxis seeks to recruit 45 patients.

The REALISTIC trial is being carried out at the Aintree Hospital at the University of Liverpool, the Royal Marsden Hospital at the University of London, and the Cardiff Hospital at the University of Wales. Qualified patients will have already received treatment for head and neck cancer, either surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, or a combination of treatments.

Head and neck cancers account for roughly three percent of all cancers in the US, according to the American Cancer Society. They are more commonly diagnosed in men than women, and while they are traditionally linked to smoking and to alcohol consumption, HPV-related oropharyngeal cancers are on the rise among white males under 50 years of age.

“We are pleased to be working with an internationally-renowned oncology group to further expand the ADXS-HPV clinical development program to another HPV-associated tumor type,” said Advaxis Chairman & CEO Thomas A. Moore. “Through this collaboration, we hope that our proprietary technology will be able to offer a new treatment option to patients suffering from the recurrence of head and neck cancer, an important unmet medical need.”