[ad_1]
They talk about the vaccine because it forces the immune system to fight the disease, although it is not preventive like the influenza vaccine. In this case, the treatment teaches the body to recognize the tumors and to attack them.
The researchers created the treatment directly inside the tumor. To do this, they injected a stimulant into a tumor to recruit immune cells, treated the tumor with a low dose of radiation, and then injected a stimulant to activate the immune cells. These activated immune cells then travel throughout the body, killing tumors wherever they are.
To learn more about investments in innovation in health care, click here to join CNBC at our Healthy Yields Summit in New York on May 21st.
In three of the patients, the treatment reduced not only the treated tumor, but also another throughout the body, which put these patients in remission.
"It's really promising, and the fact that you have not only three areas, but also external areas [of treatment with radiation] is really significant, "said Dr. Silvia Formenti, president of Radiation Oncology at Weill Cornell Medicine and New York-Presbyterian, who has not participated in the study and is working on a similar treatment.
Although promising, this effect has only been observed in three individuals and will need to be tested in larger trials before being reviewed by the Food and Drug Administration.
Dr. Eric Jacobsen, clinical director of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute lymphoma program, said the results were interesting, but more research was needed. Jacobsen did not participate in the study.
"It's definitely a proof of concept, but more important studies are absolutely necessary and additional strategies to try to get more than three out of 11 patients to respond," said Jacobsen, who is also developing a lymphoma vaccine, with however a slightly different approach.
For decades, researchers have been trying to create cancer vaccines without success. New research on immunotherapy, or the formation of a person's immune system to fight the disease, has revitalized their efforts.
The vaccine activates dendritic cells, responsible for the initiation of immune responses. These cells then ask the T cells to attack the tumors of a person's body, like generals who order the soldiers to fight.
"Generals do not really make war, they make plans," said Brody.
The research was funded by the Damon Runyon Foundation for Cancer Research, the Institute for Cancer Research and Merck. Celldex and Oncovir provided the necessary equipment for clinical trials and laboratory work.
WATCH: Pfizer's bet on the uncertain cancer market
[ad_2]
Source link