Vaccine may Extend the Life of Brain Cancer Patients

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is a devastating brain cancer that can result in death in one year. Brain tumors tend to grow rapidly and spread to other tissue. GBM is more common in people ages 50 to 70 and more prevalent in men than women. Patients have few treatment options, and nearly all available therapies have had minimal impact on survival.

Researchers conducted a Phase II study using a therapeutic vaccine to treat GBM at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center in Durham, N.C. This vaccine targets the epidermal growth factor variant III (EGFRvIII), which is a tumor-specific cell surface protein expressed on approximately 30 percent of GBM tumors and absent in normal tissues. The peptide used in the vaccine is designed to recruit immune system defenses targeting EGFRvIII to stop or slow the growth of cancer cells.

"This trial demonstrated a 70-percent increase in delaying the time to disease progression, as well as a marked increase in patient survival compared to historical controls," says Amy Heimberger, M.D., lead author of the study.

In addition, researchers noted, "This type of immunotherapy approach will be easy for physicians to administer since it can be provided 'off the shelf' and does not involve labor-intensive manipulation of the patient's immune cells." Preparations are currently underway for a multi-institutional randomized clinical trial.

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SOURCE: 74th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, San Francisco, April 25-27, 2006