A novel class of personalized cancer vaccines, tailored to the tumors of individual patients, kept the disease in check in two early-stage clinical trials, pointing to a new avenue for helping the immune system fight back.
Although so-called immunotherapy drugs from the likes of Merck & Co. Bristol-Myers Squibb and Roche are starting to revolutionize cancer care, they still only work for a limited number of patients.
By adding a personalized cancer vaccine, scientists believe it should be possible to substantially improve the effectiveness of immune-boosting medicines.