New "vaccines" are showing promise as new treatments for kidney cancer, researchers revealed last night.
Clinical studies suggest the vaccines are enabling patients to live longer than is possible with chemotherapy, according to a report in Nature Medicine.
And patients treated with the vaccine IMA901 also experience fewer side-effects than through chemotherapy.
The treatment mobilises the patient’s immune system to attack the disease and is made from ten synthetic protein fragments – peptides – aimed at activating T-cells.
Researcher Professor Hans-Georg Rammensee, of the University of Tübingen, Germany, said: “This work is a milestone in the development of cancer immune therapies.
"The principle applied here – of active immunisation against cancer antigens previously identified in cancer cells – can be used against practically all types of cancer."
Cancer specialist Professor Arnulf Stenzl, of the University Hospitals, Tübingen, said: “All of the medications previously used have brought about a clear improvement in reducing tumour growth in cancer of the kidneys, but they did not lead to the desired extension of the patient’s life and certainly did not cure the patient.
"So from the clinical point of view, the further development of active immunisation in combination with a low dose of one-off chemotherapy is a significant step in the treatment of kidney cell carcinoma – and possibly other malignant tumours as well.”
The researchers have reported detailed scientific analysis of the effects of the vaccine in the journal. This showed that the benefits came when the vaccine activate two or more T-cell reactions against peptides.
Multipeptide immune response to cancer vaccine IMA901 after single-dose cyclophosphamide associates with longer survival times. Walter S., Weinschenk T. et al. Nature Medicine. July 29 2012
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