PROvenge Treatment and Early Cancer Treatment

This was a prospective, double blind, controlled, randomized trial of immunotherapy with prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP)-loaded autologous antigen presenting cells (APCs), in subjects with non metastatic prostate cancer. Subjects that qualified for this study were men who had previously undergone a prostatectomy and whose only sign of disease recurrence was a rise in serum prostate specific antigen (PSA). The primary objectives were to compare the time to biochemical failure (BF, PSA greater than or equal to 3 ng/mL) between sipuleucel-T (treatment group) and control, and to study the safety of sipuleucel-T. Following short-term open-label treatment with a luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone-analogue (LHRH-a), Subjects completed a checklist designed to compare androgen suppression-related side effects during periods with and without androgen suppression. Subjects who achieved a PSA of \< 1 ng/ml were randomized to blinded treatment assignments of either sipuleucel-T or control in a 2:1 ratio. Following randomization, subjects underwent 3 leukapheresis procedures on alternate weeks (Weeks 0, 2, and 4). Approximately three days following each leukapheresis procedure, subjects received an infusion of either sipuleucel-T or control. At the time BF was confirmed, subjects were eligible for a booster infusion. The booster process consisted of 1 leukapheresis procedure followed by 1 infusion of sipuleucel-T. The booster process, in effect under protocol amendment 5, differed from the previous booster process that consisted of 1 infusion of the same treatment assigned at randomization (sipuleucel-T or control). Subjects continued to be observed until DF was confirmed by bone scan or computed tomography (CT) scan, or other imaging modalities as clinically indicated. After confirmed DF, subjects were followed by telephone every 6 months for safety and survival, treatment-related AEs, any CVEs, or new therapies for prostate cancer.