Ordinarily, these brain cancer patients would not live longer than 17 months after their initial diagnosis – but after undergoing clinical trials for a customized immunotherapy vaccine, their survival rates are inspiring hope for the future.
The new study documents the exciting results of a phase three clinical trial that researched the effects of a new brain cancer vaccine on 331 patients with glioblastoma.
The patients, who were treated at 80 sites in four countries prepared for the trial by having surgeons remove as much of the brain tumor as possible. The surgeons would then mix bits of the tumor cells with immune cells from the patient as part of the vaccine, which – once it was delivered to the patient – would essentially train their immune system to target and fight the cancer cells.
100 of the patients who received the vaccine, which is called DCVax-L, were designated as “extended…
