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New Vaccine Offers Hope To Brain Cancer Patients

NEW YORK (CBS) ― Sen. Ted Kennedy's brain tumor diagnosis has focused attention on the particularly lethal type of cancer. Survival from brain cancer has not improved much in the past few decades. But a new approach, in the form of a vaccine offers hope to these patients.

Unlike measles or mumps vaccines, which are meant to prevent disease, the brain cancer vaccine turns on the patient's own immune system so it will help kill the tumor.

Kathryn Montag had been having severe headaches, nausea and vomiting. She was also seeing flashing lights. "Being a nurse, I knew something was wrong," said Montag.

Her suspicions were accurate. The symptoms she felt were caused by a malignant brain tumor. Surgery, chemotherapy and radiation followed, but Montag knew most brain tumor patients still don't do very well.

"From the beginning of diagnosis to the time of first recurrences is about seven months and then the patients has another three to four months to live after that, as an average. So, we need to develop new novel therapies that potentially can deal with this tumor," said Dr. Michael Gruber, of Overlook Hospital.

One experimental therapy that has many people excited is a simple shot that Montag received - the brain cancer vaccine. The idea is to stimulate her own immune system to recognize and kill any tumor cells that may be left behind after her other, conventional treatments.

"It's a personalized vaccine," said Dr. Gruber. "It's made from your tumor. It's made from your white blood cells - so your immune system is going to recognize that."

After the tumor is surgically removed, most of it is sent to a special lab that combines it with the patients own white blood cells, very specific ones that sort of 'present' the tumor to the immune system, to rev it up. Montag will get a shot at varying intervals for up to 3 years.

Ironically, Montag was a nurse on the neurosurgery unit at Overlook Hospital, and her co-workers cared for her throughout her various treatments. She volunteered for the vaccine trial partly to help others, and also because early results suggest the vaccine doubles survival time in brain tumor patients.

"I could feel the difference, physically," said Montag. "I just felt better, stronger."
 
The brain cancer vaccine trials are being run jointly at Overlook Hospital in New Jersey, NYU and at two other sites around the country.

Side effects have been minimal but it's too soon to know how effective the vaccine will be. 

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