SATURDAY, Feb. 22, 2003 (HealthDayNews) -- Several cancer centers in Canada and the United States are joining an expanded clinical trial evaluating a cancer vaccine for people with advanced colorectal cancer.
And a second trial is now under way to evaluate the use of the vaccine in earlier stages of colorectal cancer.
Both studies are designed to determine how the investigational vaccine called ALVAC-CEA/B7.1 can be most effective when used with standard chemotherapy regimens used to treat colon cancer.
The vaccine uses a viral vector system derived from the canary pox virus. It's engineered to target the carcinoembryonic (CEA), a protein overexpressed on the surface of most colorectal cancer cells.
The clinical trial sites for people with advanced colon cancer are in Chicago, New York City, Washington, Philadelphia and Los Angeles as well as Tampa, Fla.; Portland, Ore.; Dunmore, Pa.; Birmingham, Ala., and Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal.
The clinical trials for people with earlier-stage colorectal cancer, all in Canada, are in Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary.
To get more information about the locations and patient eligibility, phone Aventis Pasteur Limited, Toronto, at 1-866-455-0349 (toll-free).
More information
Here's where you can learn more about colon and rectal cancer.
