Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center report that a follicular lymphoma vaccine uniquely tailored for each patient extended disease-free survival by 14 months. The results were recently published online in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Click here to read the published abstract.
To make the vaccine, unique proteins from each patient’s tumor were isolated and combined with a delivery agent and a growth factor. This mixture was then injected back into the patient.
Earlier studies have shown that lymphoma vaccines are able to induce anti-tumor immune responses in some patients. Importantly, patients that produced an immune response seemed to have longer remissions than those that did not. However, when the vaccines were tested in phase 3 studies, the results were not as impressive. Two phase 3 studies comparing vaccines vs no vaccine in patients with follicular lymphoma have been reported. The MD Anderson study is the first phase 3 study to demonstrate a benefit for patients receiving vaccine.
Notably, there were a few important differences between the most recent study and the two prior studies. Continue reading “Lymphoma Vaccine Increases Disease-Free Survival in Clinical Trial”
New Developments in Lymphoma 