Brain cancer vaccine a success in mid-stage trial

An experimental dendritic cell vaccine for glioblastoma multiforme--a lethal brain cancer--has demonstrated a successful immune response in a key study. And following a vaccination with chemotherapy significantly increased the time to tumor progression, according to a report in Cancer Research. Out of 32 patients in the mid-stage trial, 17 experienced a significant positive response after three vaccinations. The average length of survival was 21 months for responders compared to 14 months for non-responders.

"Fifty-three percent of patients in our study exhibited a significant vaccine-enhanced immune response. Compared to non-responders or those with limited responses, the vaccine responders had significantly longer times to tumor progression and longer survival," said Cedars-Sinai's Department of Neurosurgery Chairman Dr. Keith L. Black.

"No other vaccine trial in cancer patients has shown the kind of progressive correlation between immune responses and clinical outcomes that we found," said Christopher J. Wheeler, a research scientist at the Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute.

- read the report in the Washington Post

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