The purpose of this study is to test the safety of an investigational vaccine called TroVax when given in conjunction with Interleukin-2 (IL-2) treatment. TroVax is the experimental product in this trial and its value as a medicine has not yet been proven. Interleukin-2 (IL-2) is standard treatment for your cancer, which means that you could receive it even if you choose not to participate in this study. TroVax is being studied as a possible treatment for patients with cancer of the kidney.
TroVax belongs to a class of medicines called a vaccine. A vaccine helps the body's immune system to recognize and kill foreign invading organisms effectively. It is believed that one of the reasons why cancer can spread through the body is that the immune system cannot recognize them as being different from normal tissues and therefore cannot kill the cancer cells. A vaccine that alerts the immune system to the presence of cancer cells in the body could lead to the immune system being able to target and kill those cancer cells effectively. This trial is of a completely new way of trying to treat cancer in the future by the use of vaccination injections. TroVax consists of a virus that has been changed so that it is no longer infectious and carries a gene for a protein called 5T4. This protein is carried by many kidney cancer calls. When the virus is injected, it makes the protein, and the body's immune system is then able to recognize this protein and kill the cells that have it (i.e. the cancer cells).
The purpose of this study is to assess the safety and tolerability of TroVax injections and to understand whether TroVax could make such an immune response happen in patients with renal cell cancer while receiving Interleukin-2 (IL-2). This study will also observe and monitor any side effects experienced in patients who receive TroVax while being treated with IL-2.