New vaccine increases the effectiveness of leukemia treatment
A personalized antitumor vaccine developed by researchers at Beth Israel Medical Center and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute under the leadership of Professor David Avigan has significantly improved the results of treatment of patients with acute myeloid leukemia who participated in a clinical trial of an experimental drug.
Patients with acute myeloid leukemia often go into remission under the influence of traditional chemotherapy. However, subsequently, they usually relapse and eventually the disease takes the lives of most of the patients. The purpose of the vaccine developed by the authors, which enhances the ability of the immune system to recognize and destroy cancer cells, is to prevent relapses of the disease.
The study conducted by the authors involved 17 patients with acute myeloid leukemia who are in remission after a course of traditional chemotherapy. Despite the advanced age of the participants, which averaged 63 years, 71% (12 people) of them were in remission after a series of vaccinations throughout the entire follow-up period, the average duration of which was 57 months, that is, more than 4 years.
The active ingredient of the experimental personalized vaccine was hybridomas obtained from the fusion of malignant cells isolated from patients and their own dendritic cells. Such hybridomas have the ability to stimulate the development of a powerful immune response aimed at destroying residual or residual cancer cells preserved in the body and preventing the return of the disease.
The development of this response was confirmed by the results of laboratory tests, which demonstrated an increase in the number of leukemia-specific T-lymphocytes in the blood and bone marrow of patients.
Inspired by the results, the researchers are already testing their approach on other types of tumors, including multiple myeloma, another common malignant blood disease.
Article by J. Rosenblatt et al. Individualized vaccination of AML patients in remission is associated with induction of antileukemia immunity and prolonged remissions published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
Evgeniya Ryabtseva
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru According to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center: Personalized Cancer Vaccine is Associated With Promising Outcomes for Patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia.
12.12.2016