Immune-based therapy doubles survival rate.

• Position: Brain Cancer - Brief article

An experimental immune-based therapy more than doubled median survival of patients diagnosed with the most aggressive form of malignant brain tumor, report researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, Calif. Median survival in a phase I clinical trial was 38.4 months, as compared to the typical 14.6-month survival of patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma receiving standard therapy alone, which includes radiation and chemotherapy.

Median progression-free survival--the time from treatment to tumor recurrence--was 16.9 months, compared to 6.9 months with standard care. At later follow-up, 38% of patients--ranging from 49 to 66 months post-treatment--showed no evidence of tumor recurrence and were free of disease without current active treatment. Fifty percent of the patients remained alive.

"Brain tumors evade the immune system to survive, and the vaccine is intended to alert the immune system to the existence of cancer cells and activate a tumor-killing response. We also are...