The long-term goal of this project is to develop a therapeutic human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine that would prevent cervical cancer and other cancers caused by high-risk HPV types in individuals already infected, at which point currently available HPV prophylactic vaccines are not effective. This competitive renewal application proposes to conduct a Phase II clinical trial treating women with biopsy-proven high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSILs). HSILs are precursors of cervical cancer, which is almost always caused by HPV and is the fourth most common cancer among women worldwide, with annual incidence of 528,000 cases and mortality of 266,000 cases. In addition, HPV causes anal, oropharyngeal, penile, vaginal, and vulvar cancers; it is estimated that HPV is responsible for 5.2% of the cancer burden. Standard surgical treatments for HSILs are effective but have the unintended consequence of doubling the rate of preterm delivery afterward. Therefore, an alternative, such as a therapeutic HPV vaccine, is needed that would work by stimulating cell-mediated immunity without compromising cervical anatomy. Our group is developing an HPV therapeutic vaccine - PepCan - that consists of four current good manufacturing grade synthetic peptides that cover the E6 protein of HPV type 16 (HPV 16), along with a Candida skin-test reagent as a novel vaccine adjuvant. The immune response to the E6 protein has been associated with good clinical outcomes in naturally HPV-infected women with and without cervical lesions, and Candida injection has been shown to regress common warts and induce T-cell responses. The ongoing Phase I clinical trial has demonstrated safety, immunological responses, and histological regression above that of a historical placebo control. The proposed Phase II study will assess efficacy by extending the observation period from 3 months (in Phase I) to 1 year, which is the length of time required for similar therapeutic vaccines to take full effect. As efficacy was demonstrated against HSILs associated and not associated with HPV 16, a Candida treatment arm will be added in a randomized, double-blinded fashion. The additional goals are to identify factors associated with vaccine response, examine vaccine effect, and define the other HPVs that can be treated with PepCan. We hypothesize that PepCan induces HSIL regression and HPV clearance by mounting immune responses with measurable signatures against multiple HPV types. This hypothesis will be tested with the following aims:
Aim 1 : assess efficacy and safety of our HPV therapeutic vaccine in a Phase II clinical trial;
Aim 2 : identify factors associated with a favorable vaccine response, and examine the effects of vaccination;
and Aim 3 : describe non-HPV 16 types against which this vaccine is effective. Epitope spreading, cross-reactivity of T cells, and de novo immune stimulation will be investigated as possible mechanisms of cross-protection. Successful completion of this project should lead not only to an FDA-approved HPV therapeutic vaccine for cervical cancer but also to a new modality for prevention and treatment of all cancers caused by HPV.

Public Health Relevance

The human papillomavirus (HPV) therapeutic vaccine being developed is likely to become the first-line therapy for high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions, precursors of cervical cancer, particularly for women who wish to have children, because the standard surgical treatments have the unintended side effect of doubling the incidence of preterm delivery. Other cancers caused by HPV, including anal, oropharyngeal, penile, vaginal, and vulvar cancers, are also likely to be prevented or treated with this vaccine.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01CA143130-07
Application #
9187431
Study Section
Transplantation, Tolerance, and Tumor Immunology Study Section (TTT)
Program Officer
Song, Min-Kyung H
Project Start
2010-07-01
Project End
2020-11-30
Budget Start
2016-12-01
Budget End
2017-11-30
Support Year
7
Fiscal Year
2017
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
Department
Pathology
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
122452563
City
Little Rock
State
AR
Country
United States
Zip Code
72205
Abdallah, Al-Ola; Coleman, Hannah; Kamel, Mohamed et al. (2018) A novel prostate cancer immunotherapy using prostate-specific antigen peptides and Candida skin test reagent as an adjuvant. SAGE Open Med 6:2050312118800202
Wang, Xingxuan; Che, Yuxin; Chen, Bingnan et al. (2018) Evaluation of immune responses induced by a novel human papillomavirus type 16 E7 peptide-based vaccine with Candida skin test reagent as an adjuvant in C57BL/6 mice. Int Immunopharmacol 56:249-260
Coleman, Hannah N; Greenfield, William W; Stratton, Shawna L et al. (2016) Human papillomavirus type 16 viral load is decreased following a therapeutic vaccination. Cancer Immunol Immunother 65:563-73
Greenfield, William W; Stratton, Shawna L; Myrick, Rebecca S et al. (2015) A phase I dose-escalation clinical trial of a peptide-based human papillomavirus therapeutic vaccine with Candida skin test reagent as a novel vaccine adjuvant for treating women with biopsy-proven cervical intraepithelial neoplasia 2/3. Oncoimmunology 4:e1031439
Moerman-Herzog, Andrea; Nakagawa, Mayumi (2015) Early Defensive Mechanisms against Human Papillomavirus Infection. Clin Vaccine Immunol 22:850-7
Stratton, Shawna L; Spencer, Horace J; Greenfield, William W et al. (2015) A novel use of a statewide telecolposcopy network for recruitment of participants in a Phase I clinical trial of a human papillomavirus therapeutic vaccine. Clin Trials 12:199-204
Nakagawa, Mayumi; Greenfield, William; Moerman-Herzog, Andrea et al. (2015) Cross-Reactivity, Epitope Spreading, and De Novo Immune Stimulation Are Possible Mechanisms of Cross-Protection of Nonvaccine Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Types in Recipients of HPV Therapeutic Vaccines. Clin Vaccine Immunol 22:679-87
Coleman, Hannah N; Wang, Xuelian; Greenfield, William W et al. (2014) A Human Papillomavirus Type 16 E6 52-62 CD4 T-Cell Epitope Restricted by the HLA-DR11 Molecule Described in an Epitope Hotspot. MOJ Immunol 1:
Nakagawa, Mayumi; Coleman, Hannah N; Wang, Xuelian et al. (2014) IL-12 secretion by Langerhans cells stimulated with Candida skin test reagent is mediated by dectin-1 in some healthy individuals. Cytokine 65:202-9
Nakagawa, Mayumi; Spencer, Horace J; Coleman, Hannah N et al. (2013) Distribution of human papillomavirus (HPV) types and anti-HPV T-cell immune responses among different racial/ethnic groups in Central Arkansas. J Ark Med Soc 109:160-3

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