Melanoma recovery in some users of vaccine
Sydney Morning Herald - 12.4.10, Page 3.
A VACCINE being tested in Britain has been shown to help some patients fully recover from melanoma, even in the cancer's advanced stages. It attacks tumour cells, leaving healthy cells undamaged and carries agents that boost the body's response to skin cancer. Dr Howard Kaufman, of the Rush University Medical Centre in Chicago, said: “Our study shows we may have a cure for some advanced melanoma patients and a drug which has real benefits for others. This will save thousands of lives a year. Over the past 25 years, rates of melanoma in Britain have risen faster than any other common cancer and 2000 die from the disease each year.
A study of 50 patients with advanced melanoma who had been given no more than nine months to live found that 16 per cent of them recovered completely with the vaccine. They have been disease-free for more than four years.
Another 28 per cent saw the size of their tumours more than halve. It is hoped the licensing will be “fast-tracked” and it will be on the market within five years. Concerns were raised by medical experts about the importance of education in regards to sun exposure so that people did not think the vaccine meant they no longer had to worry about cancer. The results looked promising, the director of the WA Institute for Medical Research, Peter Klinken, said. “It's obviously important for these initial results to be tested in a larger number of patients so we'll watch out for the results of the phase three clinical trial.”
Dr Klinken said it was a devastating disease that struck young people as well as old. “Any advances in tackling it are very welcome indeed.” An education and research officer with the Cancer Council of WA, Terry Slevin, said the research looked like it was in the early stages. Australia has the highest incidence of melanoma in the world, with almost 10,000 cases diagnosed each year.
Telegraph, London,
The West Australian.