Provange: Examining the history and concerns of the vaccine

In the recent article at The Cancer Network, Jonathan S. Batchelor examines the development process and challenges Provange, the only FDA approved cancer vaccine, has taken to get to approval today. The development started in the early 1990s, but it wasn't until April of this year that the cancer vaccine was approved. The current treatment is in high demand among the prostate cancers who qualify, and Dendreon is still finalizing their production on a large scale for this product, as it is highly individualized for each patient. However, after all the research, it's not known exactly how this treatment works in treating the cancer. This is still one of the main worries many scientists have about this cancer vaccination.

Dr. Steven Clinton, MD, PhD, professor of medical oncology at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center-Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute in Columbus, commented "If one looks at the positive of this [treatment], what we have for the first time, after decades of research, is an immune-based therapy for a cancer that has traditionally been marching ahead without responding to any of our immune therapies. This is like getting your foot in the door. I think this is going to open up a great deal of interest by clinical investigators and basic scientists in [determining] how we are going to be better able to harness this knowledge and create even more effective immune-based interventions for this disease."

Dendreon will be at Vaccines Business Congress this March 2-4, 2011, in Baltimore, giving the special presentation"The Lone Ranger – Right on Target in Cancer Vaccine Development" . To find out more about their presentation, and the full Vaccines Business Congress agenda, download the brochure here.

Share this article with your social network, just click below to share now!

Share |