Title:  Anti-cancer vaccine

United States Patent:  6,338,853

Appl. No.:  865112

There is disclosed a method of preparing a vaccine suitable for administration to humans for the prevention or treatment of cancer. The vaccine is prepared by culturing human cancer cells in a serum-free medium and recovering from the culture medium the cell surface antigens shed from the human cancer cells during culturing. After purification, the collected or recovered shed antigens are employed to produce a vaccine consisting essentially of said antigens for the treatment or prevention of human cancer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A human vaccine useful for the prevention and/or treatment of infections caused by pathogenic microorganisms, including viral, fungal, protozoal, amoebic and bacterial infections and the like, human cancer, including human melanoma, a skin cancer, human lung cancer, human breast cancer, human colon cancer and other human cancers is produced. For the production of a human cancer vaccine, the vaccine is produced by culturing human cancer cells, such as human melanoma cells, in a serum-free medium for the collection in the medium of cancer antigens, such as multiple melanoma associated antigens (MAAs). The vaccine produced from the shed material contains multiple cell surface antigens including tumor antigens and if prepared from cells adapted to and grown in a serum-free medium, is free of calf serum proteins. The use of bioreactors for the bulk culture of the cells and the like for vaccine production is particularly useful.

The vaccine is employed for the prevention and/or treatment of cancer in humans by administering the vaccine into the extremities of the patient a number of times a month and then once every few months thereafter for an extended period of time, such as 1-4 years, more or less. As indicated, the invention is applicable for the production of vaccines for the prevention and treatment of other cancers as well as for infectious diseases caused by bacteria, fungi, rickettsia, virus and other cellular and subcellular organisms.

Claim 1 of 27 Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A polyvalent vaccine comprising multiple cancer cell surface antigens shed from different cells of one type of human cancer upon culturing the cells in a serum-free medium wherein the shed antigens are separated from cytoplasmic cellular components and wherein the cancer cells have been previously adapted to a serum-free medium.

____________________________________________
If you want to learn more about this patent, please go directly to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Web site to access the full patent.