SCT and cancer vaccine

[Birgitta-A]

Hi all,
The researchers at Dana-Farber report that patients with high-risk acute myeloid leukemia or advanced myelodysplasia who received a cancer vaccine shortly after a stem cell transplant not only had few complications but also mounted a strong immune system attack on the disease.
http://www.dana-farber.org/abo/news/press/2009/study-finds-promise-in-combined-transplant-vaccine-therapy-for-high-risk-leukemia.html
Kind regards
Birgitta-A

[Neil Cuadra]

They give an interesting description of the "cancer vaccine" used in the study:The vaccine was made by surgically removing cancerous or myelodysplasic tissue from patients and genetically altering the diseased cells so they would produce a protein called GM-CSF. When these modified cells were injected into patients as a vaccine, the cells began pumping out GM-CSF. Just as a matador's cape provokes the bull to attack, GM-CSF spurred the immune system to attack cancer cells throughout the body.