Survival of patients with advanced, recurrent, or metastatic human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated cancer is suboptimal despite the availability of various treatment modalities. The recently developed bacterial vector Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) activates innate and adaptive immune responses and is expected to offer immunologic advantages. Axalimogene filolisbac (AXAL or ADXS11-001) is a novel immunotherapeutic based on the live, irreversibly attenuated Lm fused to the nonhemolytic fragment of listeriolysin O (Lm-LLO) and secretes the Lm-LLO-HPV E7 fusion protein targeting HPV-positive tumors. Herein are reported the development and recent results of various clinical trials in patients with HPV-associated cervical, head and neck, and anal cancers.
Keywords: ADXS11–001; AXAL; Clinical trials; HPV-positive cancers; Human papillomavirus.