Prostate Cancer Vaccine A Work in Progress

By May 1 of 2010, U.S. News & World Report tells us, the FDA will make a decision on the approval of Provenge, which has been shown to increase the survival of men with advanced prostate cancer, for use as a vaccine against prostate cancer. The more interesting news in the U.S. News & World Report piece concerns the work being done at the University of Iowa, where urology researchers have inserted the genetic code for prostate-specific antigen into a weakened cold  virus.That sleight of hand causes the body's immune system to think that PSA is a foreign intruder like rest of the virus's proteins, and the T-cells go on a search-and-destroy mission against the invading cancer cells. The science has been demonstrated in animal models, U.S. News & World Report reports, and it is now being tested on people.Only 32 men with advanced prostate cancer got the vaccine, and over half of the lived longer than would be expected—three patients lived close to four years longer. Hardly a slam dunk, but it's a start.

Read more in U.S. News & World Report.