Brain cancer vaccine could extend lives by years

A vaccine could add years to the lives of people with the aggressive form of brain cancer that killed Dame Tessa Jowell, trials suggest.

The treatment for people with glioblastoma works by using the immune cells of patients to target their tumour.

Early findings from an 11-year trial involving more than 300 sufferers worldwide show those given the vaccine “are living longer than expected”, according to a paper published in the Journal of Translational Medicine. The Brain Tumour Charity said the preliminary results were “remarkably promising”.

Dame Tessa, a former Labour cabinet minister, died earlier this month at the age of 70. She was diagnosed with a glioblastoma multiforme brain tumour last year.

The standard treatment for glioblastoma is surgery followed by radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Patients who receive this care live for between 15 and 17 months on average.

Of the 331 patients with glioblastoma who took part in the trial, 232 were injected regularly with immunotherapy vaccine DCVAX in addition to standard care, while the remaining group were given a placebo.

DCVAX has been developed by American company Northwest Biotherapeutics.