Personalized Melanoma Vaccine Helps 3 Cancer Patients

by Keri Kukral April 7, 2015 Leave a reply

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“Our team is very encouraged by the quality of the immune response directed against the melanoma neoantigens in all three patients.” – Gerald Linette

Source: The Verge by Arielle Duhaime-Ross

Researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have combined genetic sequencing with vaccinations in order to help fight cancer. The genetically “personalized” vaccines were utilized in three patients with advanced melanoma, according to a study published in Science. The results are positive as the treatment significantly increased the amount of cancer-fighting T-cells in all three of the patients’ immune systems. The study marks the first time a vaccine caused the production of cancer-fighting cells that target specific proteins on the surface of human cancer cells.