Brain Vaccine Stops Tumor Growth

A vaccine developed as a treatment to diffuse gliomas, a type of tumor that starts in the glial cells of the brain or the spine and are very difficult to remove surgically, has been tested on humans for the first time, “with results indicating that it is both safe and effective for the treatment of cancer,” IFLScience.com reports.The majority of the patients enrolled in the trial developed an immune response to certain cancer-related proteins, with 82 percent of those who did so seeing a complete cessation in tumor growth for the next two years. 

 

“Our idea was to support patients’ immune system and to use a vaccine as a targeted way of alerting it to the tumor-specific neo-epitope,” study author Michael Platten said in a statement.

 

For this study, the researchers administered their vaccine to 33 patients with IDH1, an enzyme called isocitrate dehydrognase 1. All participants received the vaccine as well as standard cancer treatments. 

 

They found that  84 percent of patients survived for three years following treatment, with 64 percent experiencing no growth in their tumors during this period. 

 

Next, the researchers plan on a larger, placebo-controlled trial where the researchers will examine the IDH1 vaccine combined with checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapy, which generally boosts the immune system.

 

Read the original study in Nature.