Inventors:
Jedd D. Wolchok - New York NY, US
Francesca Avogadri - New York NY, US
Robert A. Olmsted - Chapel Hill NC, US
Maureen Maughan - Chapel Hill NC, US
International Classification:
A61K 39/00, A61P 35/00, A61P 35/04, A61P 37/04
Abstract:
The immune response to melanoma cells and tumors can be induced or significantly increased by administering to a subject a pharmaceutical composition comprising alphavirus particles, especially Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus replicon particles, which express the melanoma antigen dopachrome tautomerase (DCT, TRP2) in cells of the subject, with the result of tumor regression and/or inhibition of metastasis of a melanoma subject, or a decreased risk of the occurrence or recurrence of melanoma and/or decreased severity of melanoma in a subject not suffering from melanoma at the time of administration. The pharmaceutical composition described herein can be used in conjunction with other therapeutic agents, it can be administered on more than one occasion and it can be combined with administrations of other compositions such as protein or other immunogenic compositions, and/or adjuvants, with beneficial effects to the human or animal subject to which it has been administered.