A pilot study presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research has demonstrated that a vaccine developed from glioma-associated antigens has some promise in young children with high-grade gliomas.
Tumors in 19 of 22 patients in the small pilot study showed responsiveness to the vaccine, and it was generally well-tolerated, said researchers from the University of Pittsburgh
Pediatric diffuse brain-stem gliomas and other high-grade gliomas generally have a poor prognosis, with 1-year progression-free survival (PFS) at around 15% and overall survival (OS) at 35%. The generally recognized median survival time in patients with brain-stem gliomas is about 10.5 months
In this pilot study however, 8 of the 11 patients with this brain-stem gliomas survived beyond that median.
One patient in particular had a dramatic response. This 11-year-old patient had metastatic, multiple recurrent juvenile pilocytic astrocytoma with diffuse lesions. Yet following treatment with the vaccine, follow-up MRI brain scans showed almost complete resolution of the disease.
Researchers concluded "Our vaccine-based approach has been very well tolerated in terms of systemic toxicity. Pseudoprogression is a concern that warrants close monitoring and intervention. Immunological and clinical evidence of activity has been obtained, and more extensive analyses of safety and efficacy are warranted."
Source: AACR 2012
MRI of Brainstem Glioma in 4 year old; image by Tdvorak
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