January 18, 2009

I have been seeing more and more articles in the last 6 months about cancer “vaccines.” Most are not really vaccines in the traditional sense. You don’t get a shot when you’re a child and then never develop a particular cancer. Rather, what most researchers are doing is taking a sample of your specific tumor, treating it in the lab to render it “unspreadable” and also “noticeable” to your immune system. They then put these specialized cells back into your body. What this does is help induce an immune response from your own system. It’s really quite interesting and long overdue if you ask me.

A currently relevant vaccine in clinical trials is called BiovaxID. It’s used to treat some forms of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, mostly the type known as mantle cell lymphoma. Phase II results were indeed noteworthy. In one trial 89% of patients were still alive nearly four years following vaccine treatments. In another trial, 9 years after treatment, more than 45% of patients remained in remission and 95% were still alive.

There is an even bigger study that is finishing up right now and the results should be due out this Spring.

This area of treatment using vaccines is certainly one to keep our eyes on. Anything that can advantage our own immune systems and possibly replace chemotherapy as the “go-to” treatment for most cancers is where we should be spending our time and money.

What do you think about cancer vaccines? Sound off and let’s start a dialog.