Clinical Trials in Houston

Docetaxel Alone or in Combination With Vaccine to Treat Breast Cancer

NCT00179309

This study will test whether giving a combination of a vaccine together with docetaxel is more effective against breast cancer than docetaxel alone. The Food and Drug Administration has approved docetaxel to treat many cancers, including breast cancer. The vaccine consists of three parts: 1) a "priming vaccine" called PANVAC (PAN (all) VAC (vaccine)) trademark \[TM\]-V, which is made from vaccinia virus; 2) a "boosting vaccine" called PANVAC\[TM\]-F, made from fowlpox virus; and 3) sargramostim, or granulocyte macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF), a protein that may help boost the immune system. Human genes are inserted into the vaccinia and fowlpox viruses to cause production of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and mucin 1 (MUC-1)-two proteins that are often produced by cancer cells and can be used as a target for the immune system to attack the cancer. Another type of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is inserted to cause production of other proteins that enhance immune activity. Patients 18 years of age or older with metastatic breast cancer (disease that has spread beyond the original site) and whose cancer produces CEA or mucin 1 (MUC-1) protein may be eligible for this study. Patients must have antigen type human leukocyte antigen A2 (HLA-A2). They may have received adjuvant docetaxel treatment at least 3 months before entering this study, prior hormonal therapy and up to three chemotherapy regimens. Candidates are screened with a medical history and physical examination, blood and urine tests, electrocardiogram, and computerized tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging scans. Participants are randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups - docetaxel alone or docetaxel plus vaccine - as follows: Docetaxel Alone All patients receive docetaxel. The drug is infused through a vein over 30 to 60 minutes once a week for 3 consecutive weeks with 1 week off drug. Patients also take dexamethasone 12 hours and 1 hour before and 12 hours after the docetaxel to help prevent fluid retention (edema) that docetaxel may cause. Docetaxel Plus Vaccine Participants receive the priming vaccination followed by monthly boosting vaccinations, along with the weekly docetaxel therapy. With every vaccination, patients also receive an injection of sargramostim to increase the number of immune cells at the vaccination site. Sargramostim injections are given the day of vaccination and daily for the next 3 days. All vaccine and sargramostim doses are given as injections under the skin, usually in the thigh. Patients are observed in the clinic for 1 hour after each injection. Patients have blood tests every four weeks to monitor drug side effects and before every vaccination to check blood counts. A bone scan or CT scan (or both) is done every 2 to 3 months to check the response to treatment. Patients may continue receiving treatment as long as their disease does not worsen and they can tolerate the treatment without significant side effects. Patients assigned to receive docetaxel alone whose disease progresses after 3 months on the drug may choose to receive the vaccine or come off the study to receive other treatment options. Patients are monitored with yearly telephone calls for up to 15 years.