Immunotherapy Vaccine for Mesothelioma Shows Promise in Combination Treatment
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Immunotherapy Vaccine for Mesothelioma Shows Promise in Combination Treatment

ByAlex Strauss

A bacteria-based immunotherapy vaccine for mesothelioma may improve the odds of surviving the disease by boosting the effects of chemotherapy.  That is the word from the latest clinical trial of CRS-207 headed by researchers at the National Cancer Institute. Thirty-five inoperable patients received the immunotherapy vaccine for mesothelioma along with standard mesothelioma chemotherapy. Eighty-nine percent of them experienced either a full or partial response to the treatment combination.  CRS-207 Immunotherapy Vaccine for Mesothelioma CRS-207 is based on a modified version of Listeria monocytogenes. The bacterium is best known for causing the food borne illness Listeriosis. In CRS-207, the bacteria has been changed so it cannot make patients sick. The immunotherapy vaccine for mesothelioma uses the bacteria to trigger a powerful…

Promising Early Results from Mesothelioma Vaccine Trial
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Promising Early Results from Mesothelioma Vaccine Trial

ByAlex Strauss

Researchers studying a new immunotherapy vaccine for mesothelioma have released early findings from an ongoing clinical trial and the results are promising. CRS-207 is based on a genetically modified version of Listeria monocytogenes, a bacterium normally associated with the food borne illness, Listeriosis. The drug was designed to induce a powerful immune response against cells that produce mesothelin, which includes mesothelioma and several other kinds of cancer. In a presentation at the 40th European Society for Medical Oncology in September, lead investigator Raffit Hassan, MD, of the National Cancer Institute said CRS-207 appears to be improving the odds of surviving mesothelioma in inoperable patients. “The data in this trial continue to be impressive in the front-line treatment of mesothelioma,” said…