translated from Spanish: Chilean therapy against melanoma and prostate cancer will be tested in Brazil

A strategic collaboration and technology transfer agreement between the University of Chile, the Chilean company Oncocellus and the cellular research center of Brazil, San Lucas Cell Therapy Group, will allow the t Chilean erapia, designed to fight melanoma and prostate cancer, reaches a market of 200 million people and is analyzed in the short term through a clinical trial. The data obtained in Brazil will be of a worldwide nature, because they are regulated by the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) of Brazil, an agency similar to the FDA, thus guaranteeing the regulatory approval of therapy at the global level.
The technology developed by the team of Flavio Salazar, alternate director of the Millennium Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy, IMII, and vice-rector of Research and Development of the University of Chile, uses cells from the patient’s own immune system, these are vaccinated against the tumor outside the body and after 12 days are injected back into the body. From an immunological point of view, it has achieved excellent results: 60% of patients in stage IV, triple survival, improving quality of life and without side effects.
“TAPCells therapy – which we have developed entirely at the University of Chile and transferred to the company Oncocellus for commercialization – was in a phase of internationalization, mainly focused on Latin America. For this reason it was decided to present our results to the Group San Lucas”, says Dr. Salazar.

“Here in Chile we do not have a regulation for some of these cell therapy issues, there is currently work to do so, but there is no specific legislation, but in Brazil if there is one. So, it is an interesting path for TAPCells technology, which has had important effects on patients with melanoma and prostate cancer and that will allow us to advance its regulatory approval at the Latin American level,” added the national scientist.
The Brazilian consortium is one of the most important cancer groups in the region specializing in oncology, hematology and cancer research, covering more than 10,000 consultations and approximately 18,000 chemotherapys per month.
“This group has a network of clinical services with offices in addition to Rio and Salvador that generally serves thousands of cancer patients and other diseases and meets all the regulatory conditions for this type of therapy, according to the legislation Brazilian, which is the strictest at the Latin American level, very similar to the FDA in the US, that is the advantage they have,” the IMII scientist stresses.
Pioneers in Latin America
The alliance also includes collaboration in scientific, academic and clinical matters that will strengthen the capacities of both institutions. By transferring advanced clinical biotechnology between countries in the region, both groups become pioneers in cellular medicine in Latin America.
The objective of the association is to bring technological innovation for the treatment of cancer to Brazil. “They are very interested in generating clinical studies in immunotherapies that we are developing in Chile and thus establish a technological scientific collaboration”, says Salazar.
This agreement is part of the recent regulatory advances in medicinal products of advanced therapies developed by Anvisa of Brazil, a pioneer inge-by country in these subjects in the region.
The results obtained in future clinical studies will allow this technology to be brought closer to the majority of the population, both in Chile and in Brazil.

Advanced technology
The beginnings of TAPCells date back to 2002, when Flavio Salazar and a team of researchers from the University of Chile decided to focus on an effective therapy against melanoma and prostate cancer.
Within immunological therapies, which have clinical studies, it is the most accessible alternative, without side effects, short-lived and unique developed in our country. “In addition, unlike other antibody-based immunotherapies, it is lower cost and does not require ongoing monthly treatment,” explains the researcher.
“In Chile we have followed an average of 10 years of patients who have been protocolized with melanoma, who are in phase IV of the disease, that is, who are in the stage of metastasis. It’s about 200 people, most of them have been with us for 10 to 15 years,” he adds.
In this context, Salazar’s team has confirmed that 60% of patients generate permanent immune response over time. “Of that group, one in three has survived more than 5 years. There are approximately 22% of all people who have treated who have had a survival older than 5 years, which means that – from a clinical point of view – they are considered cured of that cancer.” Metastatic patients who exceed this amount of time without recurrence are considered disease-free.
Melanoma: an aggressive cancer
Melanoma is the least common skin cancer, but it is highly aggressive. If detected in early stages it can be operated, removed and cured in large part, the problem is that when it metastasizes it is very resistant to all treatments such as chemo or radio therapy and there life expectancy does not exceed ten months.
“It is mainly associated with white skin types, blond hair or colorin. These are the ones that have the highest incidence because they have some genetic component that accounts for 3 to 5% of cases, but they are usually spontaneous. This does not mean that people with darker skin cannot have melanoma, but it is less common,” says Dr. Salazar.
The incidence in Chile is 2.5 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants. However, in other countries the number rises considerably, as is the case in Australia, where the rate is 30 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants. “This is because they are white European immigrants living in sunny areas, it is the perfect combination for melanoma.”
Dendritic cells
TAPCells is based on a type of specialized cells, called dendritic cells. “These cells belong to the immune system and are circulating throughout the body, mainly in places of greatest chance of aggression, such as the skin,” explains the researcher.
What these dendritics do is that when an infection or tumor occurs, they go and accumulate at this site of aggression, capturing molecules from tumor cells and thus activating the lymphocytes that remove the tumor. “The problem is that sometimes in patients, dendritics don’t react because the signals are weak, because tumors leak or inhibit them.”
“So what we do is we help the immune system by pulling out cells, working them in labs so that they are activated and able to deliver all that information. Then we inject them directly into the body. In short, we educate these dendritics to make them more efficient, with more cells, more concentrated and with the antigens needed to attack the needed tumor. This generates powerful immune responses that are capable of preventing metastasis mainly,” Salazar concludes.

Original source in Spanish

Related Posts

Add Comment