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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- An old vaccine is finding new life, thanks to a recent study.
Researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center found a vaccine designed to target malignant tumors does its job when patients' immune systems respond.
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The vaccine, first used in 1998, stimulates the activity of dendritic cells, one of the immune system's most powerful fighters. These cells then attack malignant brain tumors called glioblastoma multiforme (GBM).
When coupled with chemotherapy, the vaccine showed promising results for patients whose bodies responded properly. Average time to tumor progression for those who showed an immune response to the vaccine was 308 days. For non-responders, the average time was about half that long. Of vaccine responders, 41 percent survived at least two years. Only seven percent of non-responders survived that long.
"Compared to non-responders or those with limited responses, the vaccine responders had significantly longer times to tumor progression and longer survival," Keith L. Black, M.D., chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and co-author of the study, was quoted as saying.
The study is also the first to show a direct link between the strength of anti-tumor immune responses and long-term outcomes in cancer patients.
SOURCE: Cancer Research, 2008;68:5955-5964
If this story or any other Ivanhoe story has impacted your life or prompted you or someone you know to seek or change treatments, please let us know by contacting Lindsay Braun at lbraun@ivanhoe.com.
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