Prostate cancer vaccine has another successful clinical trial
Jacksonville – With improved cancer treatments in recent years and the introduction of some promising drugs such as Gardasil, which is a vaccine against some types of cervical cancer, there is a growing hope for those suffering from this potentially deadly disease. The latest miracle drug may just be coming for prostrate cancer patients.
According to Dendreon, a biotech company in Seattle, their prostate cancer vaccine Provenge has had another successful clinical trial.
While this is undoubtedly good news for those afflicted with prostrate cancer, it does come in a long line of controversy surrounding Provenge. For the past two years, the FDA has failed to approve Provenge, despite some endorsements from its own advisory committees, sparking protests from prostate cancer patients who wanted access to the potentially life-saving drug.
The FDA’s complaints with Provenge related to the quality of the first study documented by Dendreon. The study only followed 127 men, and the premise of the study initially stated a desire to see if Provenge would postpone the progression of the cancer, while the results boasted of prolonging life. With these issues, the FDA requested more evidence before approving the drug.
Provenge is considered a vaccine, though it is quite different from the vaccines that most people know. Unlike Gardasil, which is a preventative measure, Provenge is a therapeutic vaccine, given to patients already afflicted with the disease. The vaccine then is designed to re-train the body’s immune system to attack the cancer cells. This innovative style of treatment varies from standard cancer treatments such as chemotherapy, which attack the cancer cells with poison to kill them off. The potential with drugs like Provenge is not only a longer life but also potentially fewer side effect that are often associated with chemotherapy.
So far, the details have been vague in regards to this new study and there has been no response from the FDA, but patients were encouraged by these findings, and they were not alone. Investors were also glad to hear of this good news, and Dendreon stock spiked to nearly twenty dollars a share, an increase of 170 percent.
