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2001 JUN 20 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) --
by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - Some patients with colorectal cancer are able to respond to a vaccine prepared from their own dendritic cells, but long-term clinical effects are not yet evident, based on a new report in Hepato-Gastroenterology.
Researchers in New Zealand studied the vaccine, prepared from autologous dendritic cells pulsed with tumor RNA and keyhole limpet hemocyanin, in 15 patients with advanced colorectal cancer. The vaccine's ability to induce a specific immune response would be a good indicator of its efficacy, proposed N. Rains and colleagues.
They administered the vaccine intravenously at the hospital and followed up with boosters once a month for four months. Patients also underwent weekly blood tests for carcinoembryonic antigen and quarterly computed tomography scans.
Eleven of 13 patients tested developed a positive keyhole limpet hemocyanin skin test, reported Rains and team, and in seven, the carcinoembryonic antigen fell, suggesting that the vaccine does have some in vivo anticancer activity.
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Source: HighBeam Research, Dendritic Cell Vaccine Shows In Vivo Activity.(Brief Article)