As many as 34 proteins from a patient’s tumor were then the target of the vaccine. After a patient’s tumor is removed, doctors identify proteins that are specific to that person’s tumor and no other cells in the body. That’s where the personalized mRNA vaccine comes in. One other way cancer can avoid being destroyed is through mutations, so the immune system’s soldiers cease to recognize it as a threat. The vaccine, mRNA-4157, is an individualized neoantigen therapy that encodes up to 34 neoantigens, said study presenter Jeffrey Weber, MD, PhD, of NYU Langone Health in New York, New York. Once the system’s braking system has been partially disabled, “the immune system works really well,” Weber said, adding that the downside of “cutting brake cable” is that the immune system stays turned up and some people end up with inflammation and something that resembles an autoimmune disease. Weber compares the way pembrolizumab works to cutting a stuck brake cable on a car so it can go forward. One of the ways cancer evades the immune system is to fool the body into thinking the threat is over, at which point the natural braking system that prevents the immune system from staying constantly on kicks in. Fifty patients received only the immunotherapy medication and 107 also got the personalized vaccination. To test the effectiveness of the vaccine, the international team of researchers recruited 157 melanoma patients whose tumors had been surgically removed and who were at high risk of experiencing a recurrence of their cancers. On Sunday, the results of the phase 2 trial, which showed that the combination of the vaccine and immunotherapy reduced the risk of recurrence by nearly half, were presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research. Personalized cancer vaccine shows benefit Keblish was one of those who received the vaccine - which teaches the body’s immune system to recognize cancer cells as different from normal cells so that, working along with the immunotheraoy drug, it can attack them.Īfter two years, Keblish's cancer hasn't returned. Two-thirds of the participants would also receive the vaccine. He is affiliated with Tristar Centennial Medical Center. He graduated from Cornell University - New York in 1989. The trial focused on a personalized vaccine using mRNA technology that used mutations to target mutations unique to a patient’s cancer but not the healthy cells in the body. All participants in the trial would receive the immunotherapy drug Keytruda (pembrolizumab), the standard of care for high-risk melanoma patients like Keblish. Jeffrey Webber, MD is an interventional cardiology specialist in Nashville, TN and has over 33 years of experience in the medical field. Fortunately, Keblish was able sign on for a small clinical trial testing a preventive vaccine that might possibly keep the disease from coming back.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |