An Innovative Treatment For Non-Hodgkin s Lymphoma
Below is a MRR and PLR article in category Health Fitness -> subcategory Disease Illness.
Innovative Treatment for Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma
Summary
Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is a serious cancer affecting the immune system, where white blood cells multiply uncontrollably in the lymph nodes. However, a pioneering treatment is offering new hope.Article
Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is a serious cancer of the immune system, characterized by the uncontrolled growth of white blood cells in the lymph nodes. Each year, about 55,000 new cases are diagnosed in the U.S. alone. Fortunately, advancements in personalized medicine are paving the way for groundbreaking treatments that target cancer cells while preserving healthy ones.
Traditionally, treatments have relied on chemotherapy and monoclonal antibody drugs. While effective, these methods can also destroy healthy white blood cells, a crucial part of the immune system.
Biovest International is among a select few companies developing patient-specific cancer vaccines. Their innovative therapeutic, BiovaxID, is undergoing trials for indolent follicular B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, affecting approximately 12,500 Americans annually. This vaccine has the potential to treat other cancers as well.
The process of personalizing BiovaxID begins with extracting cancerous cells from a patient's lymph nodes. These cells have unique surface proteins, or antigens, that the immune system can recognize. A sample of these cells is sent to Biovest's Massachusetts laboratory, where researchers combine them with another cell line licensed from Stanford University. This fusion releases the antigen proteins.
As patients receive chemotherapy to eliminate most cancer cells, Biovest collects and purifies these antigen proteins. After chemical modification, they become the active ingredient in a custom vaccine. The personalized vaccine is then sent back to the doctor for administration to the patient over five injections across six months.
"Our vaccine trains the patient's immune system to target a specific protein found only on the tumor cells," explains Dr. Carl M. Cohen, Biovest's Chief Operating Officer. "If chemotherapy is a blunt instrument, our treatment is like using tweezers."
A Biovest study involving 20 patients, initiated at the National Cancer Institute a decade ago, demonstrated a 95 percent survival rate, with 45 percent remaining in remission. Historical data suggested that only half of these patients would have survived with conventional therapies, and none would still be in remission. The Biovest-treated group remained disease-free for a median of eight years.
Biovest is now enrolling patients for a large-scale trial across major U.S. and European medical centers, involving 460 participants. The company aims to secure FDA approval for the vaccine by 2008.
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