Alphavirus-based vaccine may slow some cancers
An experimental vaccine based on a virus that causes encephalitis in the wild appears to block tumour growth in some cases of advanced cancer, according to researchers at Duke University Medical Center.
Scientists say the vaccine is able to stimulate an immune response, even in the face of profound immune system suppression, a condition most patients with advanced cancer experience.
Scientists removed the genes that enable the Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus - an alphavirus - to replicate itself, and replaced them with genes that make the biomarker CEA, present in many malignant colon, breast, and lung cells.
Read the whole article at ecancer.org
Reference
- Morse MA, Hobeika AC, et al. An alphavirus vector overcomes the presence of neutralizing antibodies and elevated numbers of Tregs to induce immune responses in humans with advanced cancer. Journal of Clinical Investigation 2010. doi: 10.1172/JCI42672
Keywords: alphaviruses, Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE), cancer vaccine
18. 8. 2010 ecancermedicalscience
