Galgenprostucel-L/litgenprostucel-L: Prostate cancer vaccine

Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in men in the United States. Men with metastatic prostate cancer are treated initially with androgen deprivation therapy, and upon developing castrate-resistant disease they are treated with docetaxel-based chemotherapy (1, 2). There is a clear need for additional treatment options for patients with advanced prostate cancer, especially options with the potential to provide greater efficacy with minimal toxicity. One such treatment option utilizes the power of the patient's own immune system to recognize and fight the malignant prostate cancer cells. The strategy of therapeutic vaccines in prostate cancer treatment has been actively pursued in recent years. In this monograph, we will review the role of GVAX® immunotherapy for prostate cancer, a cancer immunotherapy utilizing irradiated whole tumor cells genetically modified to secrete an important immunostimulating cytokine, human granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF).