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Page: << Prev | 1 | 2 | 3 | Next >> As with most cancers, a woman's chances of survival are better if the disease is found early, but ovarian tumors are a "stealth killer," because they are notoriously difficult to detect in their early stages. Only about 20 percent of ovarian cancers are found before the malignancy has spread to other tissues, according to information from the Mayo Clinic.
Although most women with advanced-stage ovarian cancer do respond to chemotherapy, 70 percent still die of the disease within five years of diagnosis.
Researchers are exploring vaccines as one way to extend remission. Vaccines essentially harness the body's own immune system to recognize some component of the cancer, then turn the body's forces against it.
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Immune agents called cancer-testis antigens are found in abundance in a variety of cancer types and so are good candidates for vaccination, the researchers explained. An antigen known as NY-ESO-1 has shown particular promise.
"NY-ESO-1 peptide has been recognized and known as a potentially tumor-specific antigen, and that's the one single peptide that they're using for this particular vaccine," Morgan explained.
The Roswell Park team tested the vaccine in 18 women with epithelial ovarian cancer, which originates in the covering of the ovaries. All participants had undergone surgery and had completed chemotherapy. Most of the patients had advanced disease.
The vaccine turned out to be safe and also induced patients' antibody and T-cell responses, both measures of immune responses. The T-cells were able to recognize tumor cells containing NY-ESO-1.
Vaccine-induced immune cells were also found to be present in patients up to a year after immunization.
One woman experienced a complete regression of her disease after 10 vaccinations, although the disease did recur again eight months after the vaccinations were discontinued.
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