Unpublicized Visit By RPCCC Leadership To Cuba This Week
Why Nearing Six Years And Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center In Buffalo, New York, Continues To Refuse To Provide Information About Clinical Trials Results For Cuba Cancer Vaccine, CIMAvax-EGF?
OFAC License Recently Extended To 2027

Prensa Latina News Agency
Havana, Republic of Cuba
24 January 2023
Cuban authorities meet with US scientists

Cuban Deputy Prime Minister Jorge Luis Perdomo met on Tuesday with US scientists from the Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI), who are visiting Havana to expand collaboration with local institutions.

It is a very important visit because collaboration between the Roswell Park Cancer Institute and the Molecular Immunology Center (CIM) in Cuba is an example of what both countries can advance despite the blockade policy against the Caribbean island, Perdomo said during the meeting. The government official welcomed the fact that the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the United States Department of Treasury recently extended a license to continue cooperation until 2027. RPCI President and CEO Candace Johnson stressed that in recent years, a long journey has been covered in this project that has built a relationship of trust between the two institutions. She added that Cuban scientists are very innovative and develop different approaches to problem solving, so this cooperation can produce many good things for both parties. Since 2011, the RPCI and the CIM have collaborated in carrying out clinical studies of various products developed by the Cuban institution for the treatment of cancer. The RPCI was founded in 1898 as the first center of its kind in the United States and today is a leader in cancer research in the world. The CIM is a closed-cycle biotechnological institution in charge of research, development, production and commercialization of scientific projects, especially for the treatment of cancer and other autoimmune diseases.

Roswell Park-CIM Study Shows Novel Agent Can Overcome Immune Dysfunction in Cancer, October 06, 2022
Preclinical/clinical findings on VSSP in metastatic kidney cancer support development of new treatment approach
Collaborators in U.S. and Cuba conducted preclinical and clinical studies
VSSP reduced immune dysfunction in patients with advanced kidney cancer
Research provides insights on how the agent overcomes immune suppression

BUFFALO, N.Y. — A collaborative effort between investigators at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Center for Molecular Immunology (CIM) in Havana, Cuba, has revealed a new strategy for correcting immune dysfunction in cancer patients. Findings from this research, which involved both laboratory studies and an early-phase clinical trial, show that a novel immune modulator known as VSSP can significantly reduce myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) among individuals with advanced kidney cancer. This work, recently published in the Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer, opens the door for the development of an immune-modulating therapy that could overcome immune dysfunction — in this case, an overproduction of MDSCs that can aid the progression of cancer — creating more favorable conditions for generating an antitumor response. “While it is well-appreciated that the immune system can be effective against cancer, we also know that the effectiveness of existing therapies may be hampered by counter networks of immune suppression,” says Scott Abrams, PhD, senior author on the new work and Distinguished Member and Professor of Oncology in the Department of Immunology and Co-Leader of the Cancer Center Support Grant (CCSG) Tumor Immunology and Immunotherapy Program at Roswell Park.

Previous research has shown that antitumor immune responses can be improved by blocking MDSCs — a prominent cell type that drives immune suppression. Those approaches have shortcomings, though, because they address limited aspects of MDSC biology. The investigators sought to find an alternative method for targeting MDSCs using VSSP, which stands for “very small size particle,” and is a novel immune modulator developed by the CIM team. VSSP is a nanoparticle that has been in clinical development in Cuba for more than 10 years and has been incorporated into the formulation of three different cancer vaccine candidates currently at different stages of clinical testing, including phase 3 trials.

The team focused on the concept of differentiation, which enables cells to mature. Since MDSCs comprise populations of immature cell types, the team tested whether this agent drives MDSC maturation as a means to reduce their burden. In the new publication, the investigators demonstrate that the administration of VSSP in preclinical models drove MDSCs in the bone marrow to become monocytes and dendritic cells — an outcome that carries potential merit for treating cancer patients with high MDSC burden.

As part of the new study, investigators at the CIM also completed an early-phase clinical trial of VSSP in 15 patients with metastatic kidney cancer. Following treatment with VSSP, the number of MDSCs in patients’ blood was significantly reduced, accompanied by increased levels of monocytes and dendritic cells, as observed in the preclinical studies. “Together, these clinical and preclinical findings strengthen the evidence that VSSP can be used to correct myeloid dysfunction in cancer, and also provide a rationale for combining VSSP with other immuno-oncology agents,” says study co-senior author Jason Muhitch, PhD, Assistant Professor of Oncology in the Department of Immunology and Co-Leader of the Genitourinary Cancer Translational Research Group at Roswell Park.

“Our findings also suggest that the mechanism by which VSSP is interfering with the immunosuppressive signals coming from the tumor is at early stages of the generation of the myeloid dysfunction,” adds Circe Mesa, PhD, of the Department of Immunoregulation, Immunology and Immunotherapy Direction at the CIM. “This may position VSSP as a first-in-class immune-modulating therapy to combine with antitumor therapies dampened by a dysfunctional myeloid compartment.” As part of this unique collaboration between Roswell Park and CIM, two graduate students from Dr. Mesa’s laboratory, Liliana Oliver, PhD, and Rydell Alvarez Arzola, MS, trained at Roswell Park with Dr. Abrams to perform the preclinical experiments. The two institutions continue to work together to advance the knowledge and development of this novel immune-modulating therapy.

Links To Related Analyses

Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center References Its Clinical Trials For Cuba's CIMAvax-EGF. After Five Years Of Activity, RPCCC Continues Refusal To Provide Data/Comment On Joint Venture Status. November 02, 2021

Will Cuba Seek EUA From United States FDA? Not Required, But Politically Might Be Prudent Marketing Strategy To Reinforce What Cuba Can Do Under Sanctions June 23, 2021

Could Buffalo, New York-based Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center Be A Defendant In A Libertad Act Lawsuit? Is This What Title III Intended? December 24, 2020

ZED Mariel Has 16 Companies Operating; One Approved By U.S. Government Not Yet Operational. Might All Be Potential Defendants In Libertad Act Lawsuits? December 24, 2020

Roswell Park In Buffalo, New York, Has Unique Partnership With Cuba; Has It Explored COVID-19 Treatment? June 15, 2020

Roswell Park Announces Joint Venture In Cuba For Healthcare Product Development September 26, 2018

Air Canada & UPS Deliver 1st Cancer Vaccine For Use In FDA-Approved Clinical Trial; RPCI Seeks US Carrier November 22, 2016

Who Will Provide Cargo Services For Roswell Park? UAL, DEL, AA, FDX Or JBU November 14, 2016

From The Atlantic: How FedEx (Might Have) Helped Commence A Cancer Vaccine Clinical Trial November 08, 2016