Preliminary results indicate that anti cancer immune therapy with Magnetofection reduces the relapse of cat fibrosarcoma from 75% to nearly 40%.
Imagna (immuno gene therapy with magnetic nanoparticles) has been founded by members of the Institute of Experimental Oncology Klinikum rechts der Isar (Technical University Munich), the Clinic of Small Animal Medicine of the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat, Bayer Schering Pharma, Chemicell, and PlasmidFactory to provide evidence for the usefulness of therapeutic tumour vaccination by the magnetofection technology in a clinical study in cats with fibrosarcoma.
This consortium is supported by a grant from the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).
Standard therapy for cat fibrosarcoma is surgical removal.
However, the tumour recurs in 75% of the patients within one year.
The Imagna team has used Magnetofection to guide cytokine genes directly into the tumor prior to surgical excision.
The idea was that the cytokine expression within the tumour mass might activate the immune system against the tumour so that tumour cells missed by the surgical procedure would be killed.
Additional studies are intended to confirm and extend these promising preliminary results and to take initial steps towards a future drug approval, firstly for the veterinary medicine.
The partners contribute with their different competences in the field of veterinary medicine, therapeutic anti cancer vaccination, DNA production, gene transfer and targeting, pharmaceutical manufacturing and regulation.
