DCVax Vaccine Doubles Brain Tumor Survival Rate In Trial

(CTN NEWS) – DCVax – Global clinical trials have concluded that the world’s first vaccine to treat deadly cancerous brain tumours could extend patients’ lives by years.

According to a senior NHS doctor who led the trial, DCVax showed “astonishing” improvements in survival rates.

In the UK, 2,500 people are diagnosed with glioblastoma yearly, the most common and aggressive form of brain cancer.

After diagnosis, most people with the disease will live just 12-18 months, but some may live as little as 6 months.

One patient in the multicentre global study lived for more than eight years after receiving DCVax.

Nigel French, 53, still lives seven years after he had it in Britain.

Word used to describe #dcvax today in #theguardian “REVOLUTIONARY”$nwbo https://t.co/86LDFJDw2P

— Ida Bogac (@albtur_mnymkrs) November 17, 2022

The trial results are astonishing, said Prof Keyoumars Ashkan, a neurosurgeon at Kings College Hospital in London. The final results of this phase three trial offer fresh hope to patients suffering from glioblastoma.

Interestingly, the vaccine “prolonged life in patients traditionally considered poorer prognoses,” such as older adults and people for whom surgery wasn’t an option.

Upon approval by medical regulators, DCVax would be the first new treatment for newly diagnosed glioblastoma patients in 17 years and the first for people with relapse in 27 years.

Researchers found that newly diagnosed patients who received the vaccine survived an average of 19.3 months, compared to 16.5 months for those who received a placebo.

A DCVax-treated participant with recurrent glioblastoma lived on average 13.2 months, compared with just 7.8 months without it.

Among people who received it, 13% lived at least five years after diagnosis, compared with just 5.7% in the control group, according to results published on Thursday in the Journal of the American Medical Association Oncology.

$NWBO #DCVax-L "13% of vaccine patients with the most aggressive form of glioblastoma were still alive after five years, compared with just 5.7 per cent in the control group. One patient survived for eight years."https://t.co/EW3uClCTKn

— Henry (@HenryMuney) November 17, 2022

As part of immunotherapy, the vaccine instructs the body’s immune system to track down and destroy the tumour. The first treatment for brain tumours has been developed.

“The vaccine stimulates the patient’s immune system to fight against the tumour. The treatment works with a patient’s immune system, which is the most intelligent system on earth,” Ashkan said.

“Vaccines combine proteins from a patient’s tumour with their white blood cells. By doing this, the white cells are trained to recognize tumours.”

“After the vaccine is administered, the educated white blood cells help the rest of the patient’s immune system recognize and destroy the tumour. It’s almost like training a sniffer dog.”

There is no vaccine available on the NHS yet.

Northwest Biotherapeutics, the company that makes it, plans to seek regulatory approval to make it available.

According to Brain Tumour Research, “patients who have been denied new clinical options for too long” need access to treatment to prolong their lives.

“Since temozolomide chemotherapy was first used to treat glioblastoma in 2005, DCVax represents the first emerging therapy proven effective in the treatment,

And we hope it becomes more affordable, perhaps becoming standard of care – so the NHS can offer it,” said Dr. Noble, the charity’s director of research, policy, and innovation.

Vaccine trialled at King’s prolongs life in patients with aggressive tumours.

By using patients’ immune cells to target #BrainCancer, this is the first time in 27 years that any treatment has been shown to extend survival in recurrent #glioblastoma.

➡️ https://t.co/22mHvhVZzs pic.twitter.com/rMbEgVL6xi

— King's College NHS (@KingsCollegeNHS) November 17, 2022

“The average survival time for glioblastoma is just 12 to 18 months. It is rare to hear stories like Mr. French’s, but they are incredibly welcome. The final results of this trial are very encouraging,” she added.

20 of the 331 patients in the eight-year trial were at King’s or University College London hospitals. 232 participants received DCVax, and 99 received a placebo.

The standard treatment for glioblastoma is surgery followed by radiotherapy and chemotherapy to remove as much of the tumour as possible.

Cancer Research UK’s research information manager, Henry Stennett, stated, “What’s particularly exciting is that it can improve outcomes for people who don’t usually respond well to therapy.

It may take a big step forward in beating brain tumours of this type, even though it still needs to pass strict regulatory approvals.”

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