Glioblastoma is termed an immunologically ‘cold’ tumor – a disadvantage for treatment with immunotherapy – because the brain tumor contains very few immune cells that are required to generate an immune response against the tumor.
In a report, scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute say they have shown that a personalized ‘neoantigen’ vaccine can spur a response against glioblastoma, with immune T-cells generated by the vaccine migrating into the brain tumor, creating a ‘hotter,’ inflamed environment around the cancer cells. The neoantigen vaccine approach has been pioneered in the laboratory of Catherine Wu, MD, at Dana-Farber.
“This is the first time it has been shown that a vaccine can generate immune cells against the tumor that can traffic from the bloodstream into a glioblastoma tumor,” said David Reardon, MD, senior author of the study. Reardon is clinical director of the Center for Neuro-Oncology at Dana-Farber.
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AANS Neurosurgeon is the official socioeconomic publication of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) and features information and analysis for contemporary neurosurgical practice. Published monthly online, AANS Neurosurgeon focuses on issues related to neurosurgery legislation, the workforce and practice management.
