Jul 5, 2008 12:08 am US/Eastern
New Vaccine Targets Brain Cancer
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (CBS) ―
Abbott Northwestern Hospital is playing a key role in the development of a cancer vaccine. The concept is to give the immune system a super-boost, then unleash it on some of the toughest cancers.
The scar on the back of Jim Scarpetta's head is fading on the surface. Inside, a battle is being waged. Two months ago, a large tumor was found in his brain.
"This particular tumor is a very malignant tumor in the sense that it's a very aggressive tumor," said Dr. John Trusheim, a neuro-oncologist with Abbot Northwestern Hospital.
It is very similar to the type of cancer Senator Ted Kennedy is being treated for. Surgery is standard to remove as much of the cancer as possible.
Scarpetta's MRI scan shows that 90% of his tumor was removed, but neuro-oncologist Dr. John Trusheim said because this is one of the deadliest forms of brain cancer, that is not enough.
"These are infiltrating tumors so even at the margin, there is not a clear edge to them. There's always a few cells wandering off into the normal tissue, the normal brain in this case," said Trusheim.
"And then all of a sudden you realize, holy cow, I might not make it past, you know, one to five years," said Scarpetta.
Scarpetta is optimistic, and he is genuinely excited to also help test something new; a cancer vaccine.
"Wouldn't you love to be part of the team that was there when they figured out how to cure this problem?" he said.
In the labs of Northwest Bio-Therapeutics, Scarpetta's disease-fighting white blood cells, called dendritic cells, are cultured to grow more of them. Then they are exposed to tissue from Scarpetta's tumor, which has been rendered harmless.
That makes the white cells hyper-sensitive to Scarpetta's specific cancer so Trusheim can inject them as a vaccine, called DCVax®-Brain.
"(The vaccine) targets certain cells that have certain characteristics, just tumor cells, leaving the normal cells alone hopefully," explained Trusheim.
All 240 patients in a clinical trial will get their standard radiation and chemotherapies. Two out of three will receive weekly doses of a custom-made vaccine. One-third will receive an inactive placebo. Neither the doctor nor the patients will know at first who's getting what.
Still, this clinical trial has an extra degree of compassion. If, after 6 months, a patient is not doing well, there will be an opportunity to find out of they might have been receiving the placebo. Then, the patient can get the real vaccine.
The first test of the vaccine only involved 13 patients, but their survival time doubled. To date, only two of them have died.
"I then got the information about six out of 13 being cancer-free. So then you start saying 'Okay, this looks like a pretty good deal,'" said Scarpetta.
A tight relationship between the Virginia Piper Cancer Center and Abbott Northwestern Hospital's Neuro-Science Center is making the project possible CBS station WCCO-TV reported. Researchers are recruiting patients with newly diagnosed brain tumors to participate in the trial.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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