Dendreon Initiates Phase 2 Trial of PROVENGE in Patients With Localized Prostate Cancer Prior ...( SEATTLE July 16 /- Dendreon Corpo...),Health

SEATTLE, July 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Dendreon Corporation (Nasdaq: DNDN) today announced that the Company has initiated a Phase 2 trial of PROVENGE(R) (sipuleucel-T), Dendreon's investigational active cellular immunotherapy for the treatment of prostate cancer, in men with localized prostate cancer who are scheduled to undergo a radical prostatectomy. The single-center trial called NeoACT (NEOadjuvant Active Cellular immunoTherapy), or P07-1, which is being conducted at UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, has begun enrolling approximately 40 patients. NeoACT is the first of two new Phase 2 trials of PROVENGE being initiated this year.

Each patient will receive a complete course of active treatment over a one-month period beginning six to seven weeks prior to the patient's radical prostatectomy. The course of treatment will consist of three infusions of PROVENGE-two weeks apart. Multiple safety and efficacy endpoints will be evaluated including the immune response in the prostatectomy specimens and in the peripheral blood. Following radical prostatectomy, patients will be randomized to receive either a booster of PROVENGE or no booster. Patients interested in additional information about this trial may visit http://www.clinicaltrials.gov and use the search term "NeoACT."

"I am pleased to help lead the NeoACT clinical trial, given the therapeutic potential of immunotherapy for prostate cancer," stated Lawrence Fong, M.D., principal investigator of the NeoACT trial and associate professor of medicine at UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. "This study will provide a unique opportunity to examine the immune response to PROVENGE in
'/>"/>