Vaccine milestone

 A presentation at the American Urological Association (AUA) Annual Meeting in Chicago in April 2009 reported significant results for an investigational therapy for men with advanced prostate cancer. Provenge® — a customized vaccine made partly from the patient’s own blood cells — works by training the body’s immune system to fight tumours.

IMPACT, a multicentre, randomized clinical trial, enrolled 520 men with metastatic, hormone-resistant prostate cancer; two-thirds were given Provenge and the rest received an inactive pill. Median survival was 26 versus 22 months, and three-year survival rates were 32% and 23%, respectively, for the men on Provenge compared to those who got the placebo. Overall, side effects were similar for both groups. Researchers hope to see greater benefits by giving the drug earlier on during treatment. Although biotech drugs can be expensive and long-term safety and effectiveness still need confirmation, hopes for the drug’s approval in the near future are high.

Provenge is the first active cellular immunotherapy shown to benefit patients in a Phase III clinical trial. According to experts, it represents an important milestone for prostate and other types of cancer. After decades of trying to develop effective cancer vaccines, scientists are now seeing the potential for a class of drugs that can mobilize the immune system to fight cancer without a lot of harmful side effects.