Yesterday , the FDA approve a drug called Provenge . It discipline the body ’s immune system to fight offadvanced prostate gland malignant neoplastic disease . It ’s also the first validation we have that immunotherapy works in the fight against the disease .
https://gizmodo.com/scientists-find-an-antibody-which-hunts-and-kills-prost-5435875
Provenge from Dendreon is n’t a preventative vaccine ; it wo n’t stave off illness . It is , though , an innovative way to implement traditional vaccine engineering to place - diagnosis discourse . It ’s an overture with far few coarse side - personal effects than chemotherapy , and in clinical tribulation it extended the sprightliness of patient by about four calendar month compared to a placebo group .
There are some unfortunate limitations : Provenge has been okay onlyfor a specific subsetof “ men whose cancer has spread in the trunk and for whom the hormone - deprivation drugs no longer put to work but who still have minimum symptom , or none at all . ” Dendreon ’s also only been able to produce enough vaccine for 2,000 patient this year , and those who can get Provenge will have to pay out $ 93,000 for a full three - shot course of treatment .
What ’s most significant , though , are the broader implications : We know , now , that immunotherapy can work in cancer treatment . It ’s only a matter of time before its scope and potency have as unsubtle a reach as the disease itself . [ NY Times ]
CancerMedicine
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