These findings could lead to promising new treatments for glioblastoma patients
Patients who have been diagnosed with glioblastoma generally only live 14 to 18 months when undergoing traditional treatment options such as surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. In this study, researchers believe they have found a new treatment that utilizes a vaccine to activate an immune response against advanced brain tumors. With this vaccine, the cancer is prevented from shielding itself from the patient’s own immune cells allowing them to attack the tumor. “These findings are the first that specifically outline the mechanism by which an effective immune response can be seen in tumors located in the brain,” said Prins, an associate professor in the department of neurosurgery at the UCLA. “We discovered that effective anti-tumor immunity to glioblastoma must have a significant infiltration of killer T cells and a blockade of the important checkpoint axes that make these killer T cells dysfunctional within the tumor.” To read more, click here.
