Glioblastoma vaccine shows promise in animal study

[barbara]

Very little progress has been made since 1982 when my dad died from an inoperable brain tumor for anything that would extend the life of such patients or relieve the suffering some endure. I have just read a heartbreaking book by a caregiver whose wife also died from a brain tumor. It made me feel blessed to only have COPD even though it is 100% fatal. This study sounds promising.



Glioblastoma vaccine shows promise in animal study
by Paul Tinder on March 13, 2010

LOS ANGELES ? ImmunoCellular Therapeutics Ltd. announced March 10 that its dendritic cell-based vaccination with cancer stem cells demonstrated a statistically significant survival benefit in a preclinical animal model of glioblastoma.

The rats were either immunized with cancer stem cells from a brain cancer tumor or the daughter cells (the bulk of the tumor), and results showed that those immunized with the CSCs had a median survival of 50 days compared to 29 days for daughter cells.

Furthermore, 30 percent of animals vaccinated against cancer stem cells demonstrated long-term survival as compared to animals vaccinated with the bulk of the tumor, all of which died.

"We are excited by the study's results, as it represents a significant step forward in the continued development of our cancer stem-cell based vaccines," said Manish Singh, president and CEO of ImmunoCellular Therapeutics.

"The data further validates our research indicating that targeting CSCs has the potential to be a highly effective method of treating various cancers."

The data also demonstrated increased Gamma-Interferon levels in animals treated with CSCs, indicating an increased immune response consistent with increase in survival further supporting the mechanism of action of this approach

ImmunoCellular Therapeutics is a Los Angeles-based clinical-stage company that is developing immune-based therapies for the treatment of brain and other cancers.