Empire State Ride Reflects on 10 Years of SurVaxM on the Event's 10th Anniversary
In 10 short years, donor support helped bring a homegrown cancer-fighting discovery to the national stage in the form of a clinical trial. SurVaxM, a therapeutic cancer vaccine developed at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, has the potential to drastically extend the lives of patients living with brain cancer. You and your donors are part of that.
SurVaxM was created in a lab at Roswell Park by Robert Fenstermaker, MD, Chair of Neurosurgery and Michael Ciesielski, PhD, Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery. Dr. Fenstermaker is the Principal Investigator of the nationwide randomized trial and Dr. Ciesielski is CEO of MimiVax, the company which now produces SurVaxM. Their work has been passionately supported by donor funding for the past 10 years, proving instrumental in bringing this new treatment to where it is today.
Here’s how it all went down:
2012
Roswell Park announces a new clinical research study that could put cancer cells “in a Catch-22.”
2013
A phase I clinical trial begins in human patients, supported by the American Cancer Society.
2014
Roswell Park donors begin to financially support SurVaxM alongside the Roswell Park Alliance Foundation through events like Empire State Ride and more.
2015
Drs. Fenstermaker and Ciesielski present their phase I clinical trial results to the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting in Philadelphia.
Phase II of the clinical trial begins, bringing hope to 50 newly diagnosed patients at Roswell Park and Cleveland Clinic.
2016
Experts investigate usefulness of SurVaxM for patients with multiple myeloma.
2017
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) awards orphan drug status for SurVaxM. This designation is intended to encourage innovation in the treatment of rare diseases.
2018
Findings through SurVaxM trials open
doors for other types of treatments like CAR T-cell therapy and
antibody-based therapies.
Drs. Fenstermaker and
Ciesielski join their colleagues at Cleveland Clinic to present their phase II findings so far at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting in Chicago.
Results from phase II clinical trial show significant success: well-tolerated; 96.7% of patients did not experience disease progression within the first six months; 94.2% of study participants were alive one year after their diagnosis, as opposed to 65% of patients in a historical comparison group.
2019
Trial leaders bring fully completed results to the ASCO Annual Meeting.
2020
Two new studies, led by Renuka Iyer, MD, of Roswell Park, explore the potential use of SurVaxM for patients with neuroendocrine tumors.
2022
Roswell Park becomes the first center to treat newly diagnosed glioblastoma patients in the phase 2B randomized clinical trial.
Dr. Ciesielski returns to ASCO to present the final data from phase 2A as phase 2B kicks off.
Roswell Park is the first of several sites to offer a SurVaxM pilot study for pediatric patients in conjunction with the Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium.
Results demonstrating safety and extended survival are published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
2023
The FDA grants Fast Track Designation for SurVaxM, opening doors to accelerated approval as late-stage clinical trials advance.
2024
You fundraise for Empire State Ride, armed with the confidence that your hard work is propelling something meaningful on a national scale.
You make a difference!
Check Out SurVaxM Coverage through the Years
SurVaxM: Immunotherapy for Glioblastoma
Roswell Park Researchers Publish Findings on Agent Shown to Enhance Immunotherapy
Investigational Brain Cancer Vaccine to Be Tested in Phase I Roswell Park Study
Roswell Park Researchers Test Brain Cancer Vaccine in Phase I Trial
Investigational Brain Cancer Vaccine Produces Strong Immunological Response
Promising Vaccine Therapy for Glioblastoma Brain Cancers Moves on to Larger, Multisite Study
Immunotherapy Developed at Roswell Park Being Tested as Treatment for Multiple Myeloma
Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center Releases Quality 2017 Report
Roswell Park Research on Survivin Opens Up New Avenues for Cancer Immunotherapy
Brain Cancer Immunotherapy SurVaxM Extends Survival, Even in Hard-to-Treat Patients
Phase II Trial Shows Favorable Response for Patients Receiving Combination Therapy With SurVaxM
Roswell Park Studies Highlight Emerging Treatment Options for Neuroendocrine Tumors
Roswell Park-Developed Immunotherapy Now Part of Nationwide Study in Kids With Brain Cancer
Clinical Trial of Roswell Park’s SurVaxM Glioblastoma Vaccine Reveals Promising Results
Roswell Park Cancer Innovation SurVaxM Granted FDA Fast Track Designation
National Spotlight for a Homegrown Innovation
Roswell Park Opens Phase 2B Randomized Clinical Trial of Promising Brain Cancer Immunotherapy