Harnessing the power of immunotherapy: BC Cancer breakthroughs in personal cancer treatment

Dante Di Pasquale was newly retired in 2019 and looking forward to a more leisurely life at home in Richmond. He hoped to rekindle past interests, such as golf and woodworking, and travel to Italy and Ireland to see family with his wife Carole. Unfortunately, his plans came to a halt when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

It’s not unusual, as one in nine men in B.C. will be diagnosed with prostate cancer, and 90% of diagnoses will be in men over the age of 60.

What is uncommon, however, is that Dante has just finished 55 months on an immunotherapy clinical trial that should not have worked to treat his disease. But, thanks to genomic testing that discovered a mutation that responds well to the treatment, he is now cancer-free.

A unique approach: Genomics and immunotherapy

Immunotherapy is a quickly evolving field of treatments that harness a patient’s immune system to fight cancer. Home to a team of world-renowned immunotherapy experts, BC Cancer is well-positioned to usher in this new era of modern medicine and has already achieved enormous success in early clinical trials in immunotherapy.

The BC Cancer Foundation is launching a $6.8 million fundraising campaign to support the next three years of immunotherapy research at BC Cancer to ensure it’s available to everyone across the province.

Highly personalized, immunotherapy is particularly beneficial to patients with advanced or hard-to-treat cancers who have run out of treatment options — people like Dante.

In addition to surgery to remove his prostate, Dante underwent radiation and chemotherapy to treat his cancer which had spread to the bone in his back. Unfortunately, his prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels continued to rise, indicating his cancer was still spreading.

Dante’s oncologist Dr. Bernie Eigl, deputy head, department of clinical research at BC Cancer, referred him to a BC Cancer Foundation-funded study in precision medicine, IND.234 that uses liquid biopsy (a simple blood test) to screen for genomic markers in prostate cancer patients.

After analysis, patients in the first-of-its-kind study were assigned to one of five new therapies targeted at their unique form of prostate cancer. In Dante’s case, it was immunotherapy.

A new hope: Dante’s success story

Dante Di Pasquale pictured with his grandson. Photo provided by the BC Cancer Foundation.

“From the very first treatment, my PSA was undetectable and scans every three months have been stable which basically means the cancer is gone,” says Dante.

“It’s a true success story,” agrees Dr. Eigl, “made possible in part due to a BC Cancer Foundation donor-supported trial that enabled us to hone in on the unique characterizations of Dante’s cancer to recommend a personalized and effective treatment.”

“While immunotherapy doesn’t work for most prostate cancers, Dante has experienced an exceptional and continuous response that has lasted for roughly the past four years — knowledge that we’ll be able to apply to the next patient that presents with a similar disease.”

Compared to chemotherapy, Dante says immunotherapy, “was a non-event. I could basically just go on with my day. In most cases, it’s a lot easier on the body. Chemo kills everything. Immunotherapy is very specific. It lets your body and T cells do the work. It just helps them along, trains them or wakes them up. It’s a lot better than just knocking the hell out of everything.”

At his worst, Dante used a cane to support himself but now says he’s back to “if not 100%, pretty darn normal.” He even got back on his bike this past summer. “I’m a little slower,” he adds, but at 72 years old, he believes it’s more a result of aging — something he’s deeply grateful he gets to experience.

The future of immunotherapy

As BC Cancer continues to lead the charge in advancing cancer care, it’s at the forefront of the next wave of immunotherapy treatments thanks to a first-in-Canada CAR-T research program founded 100% through BC Cancer Foundation support.

CAR T-cell therapy is a form of immunotherapy in which a patient’s T cells (a type of white blood cell) are genetically engineered in the lab to identify and destroy cancer cells and it’s making enormous strides in treating other cancers.

BC Cancer’s first CAR-T clinical trial, CLIC-01, using made-in-Canada CAR T cells that target CD19, a protein marker common in leukemia and lymphoma, has proven highly successful in that 43% of participants have achieved complete regression, and many are now two or more years out for treatment without any sign of relapse.

BC Cancer is launching a second CAR-T clinical trial targeting a different protein in leukemia and lymphoma cells, in which half the participants will be pediatric patients. Another clinical trial is planned to help discover a way to make CAR T-cell therapy effective against solid tumours with limited treatment options such as ovarian and pancreatic cancer.

While CAR T-cell therapy is now available as the standard of care for specific cancers, further research is needed to bring this life-saving treatment to more patients across B.C.

Help fuel life-saving immunotherapy research at BC Cancer by donating today.