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Vaccine Delays Progress of Glioblastoma, Increases Life ExpectancyScientists have created a vaccine that increases the life expectancy of patients with glioblastoma multiforme, a type of deadly brain tumor.
Amy Heimberger, M.D., of the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, and colleagues designed a vaccine that targets the protein EGFR. EGFR is expressed by certain brain tumor cells and may play a role in helping tumors spread. Patients were given 3 injections of the vaccine over a 2-week period and a monthly booster shot.
The vaccine caused patients’ immune systems to attack cells carrying EGFR. When tumors began to grow again in vaccinated patients, cells did not contain EGFR. The authors suggest the vaccine is simple to manufacture and give to patients, and it may be an effective measure for prolonging the lives of glioblastoma patients.
The findings were presented at the 2006 annual meeting of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons.
Biomarker Links Fatigue to Inflammation
Scientists have uncovered a new biomarker for consistent fatigue in breast cancer patients that suggests it may result from inflammation that causes a patient's immune system to react.
Michael Irwin, M.D., of the University of California in Los Angeles, and colleagues discovered a two part biomarker that predicts which breast cancer patients will have persistent fatigue. The first part measures the amount of a receptor, called IL-6R, in the blood versus on the membrane of white blood cells. IL-6R helps activate the body's immune response. The second part measures a protein whose increase indicates early activation of T cells, primary cells in the immune response.
The paper is a first link between persistent fatigue and the body's immune response. The authors suggest the research is a step in combating the problem of persistent fatigue in breast cancer survivors.
The study was published in the May 1 issue of Clinical Cancer Research.
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