Modified polio vaccine extends lives in cancer study
Some 21 per cent of patients with advanced brain cancer treated with a modified polio vaccine were alive after three years, compared with 4pc of patients with similar tumours who received standard therapies, US researchers said yesterday. The findings, published online in the New England Journal of Medicine, are the latest update on an experimental cancer vaccine developed at Duke Cancer Institute in Durham, North Carolina, for patients with glioblastoma, a deadly form of brain cancer.
For most patients whose glioblastoma has recurred after treatment, the average survival is 12 months. The experimental vaccine involves a genetically modified form of polio, which is infused into the brain tumour through a surgically implanted catheter. The vaccine works by provoking the immune system to specifically target tumor cells. The phase 1 trial was designed to find a safe dose. It involved 61 patients treated with the poliovirus vaccine whose progress was compared to historical records of similar patients treated with standard therapy. “Similar to many immunotherapies, it appears that some patients don’t respond for one reason or another, but if they respond, they often become longterm survivors,” Dr. Annick Desjardins, one of the study authors, said in a statement.
Desjardins and several of the researchers hold patents to the treatment, which Duke has licensed to Istari Oncology, a startup company. A phase 2 study is underway.
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