Small Study Offers Hope for Lung Cancer Patients

In a study of patients with non?small-cell lung cancer, 3 of the 43 participants injected with the vaccine GVAX had no recurrence of lung cancer for more than 3 years. Researchers note that the trial was very small, and the vaccine is years away from reaching the market, if ever. The oncologist who led the study, John Nemunaitis, MD, of Baylor University Medical Center, said, "The results are very promising for patients with non?small-cell lung cancer, which is frequently resistant to chemotherapy." He added that this is the first study to show complete and long-lasting regression of lung cancer by stimulating the immune system to attack cancer cells. This type of lung cancer is the most common, killing more than 150,000 people each year.