What is a vaccine against prostate cancer?

Prostate cancer provision can help prolong the life of men with advanced stages of the disease that has exhausted the possibilities of primary treatment. Unlike a typical vaccine administered to prevent virus infection, such as influenza or palsy, prostate cancer is treated by existing diseases. The vaccine, sipuleucel-T, was approved by US food and drug administration (FDA) in April 2010. Although not treated with prostate cancer, the vaccine seems to have mild side effects compared to other treatments such as chemotherapy or medicine. The cells are removed and sent to the laboratory where prostate cancer cells are exposed. About three days later, the patient receives cells in a process similar to blood transfusion. The process is repeated three times with a two -week break between doses. Prostate cancer vaccine stimulates the patient's own natural defense to help with cancer cells, cells that otherwise effectively avoid the detection of the immune system. Phase III study consists of MULticentric studies on groups of patients between 1,000 to 3,000 people and are long and expensive. The aim of such an attempt is to create a definitive assessment of the effectiveness of the drug, monitor side effects and compare it with standard treatment options.

The study showed that men who received a vaccine lived on average four months longer than men who received placebo. After three years, 32 percent of men were alive, compared to 23 percent of those who received placebo. For comparison, docetaxel, current standard prostate cancer treatment that does not respond to hormonal therapy, usually adds t around the darkness of the moon to the patient's life.

Not all patients will benefit from prostate cancer. The FDA approved only Sipuleucel-T for use against cancer, which no longer respond to hormonal therapy. In addition, a number of three injections may be disproportionately expensive for benefitsFor survivors, which is limited but real.

Chemotherapy is the primary treatment of prostate cancer, but can cause serious side effects such as fatigue, weight loss and infection. Prostate cancer vaccine generally causes comparably mild symptoms. Most men who receive sipuleucel-T develop chills, headaches and fever. These side effects are usually distracted within a few days of injection.

In addition to sipuleucel-T, a second vaccine against prostate cancer called ProstVac-VF may eventually be approved. ProstVac-VF is a vaccine that uses a genetically modified virus containing antigen specific prostate (PSA). The patient's immune system responds to the virus in the vaccine and will destroy the cancer cells that contain a dog. Prostvac-VF was in the initial clinical trials in November 2010.