This type of lung cancer is characterized by alteration of a protein, MUC1, proliferating due to the presence of tumor cells. The function of the new vaccine is to stimulate the body's immune system to fight this protein and kill cancer cells.
The study has shown the effectiveness of the new drug, published in The Lancet Oncology ', participated 148 patients suffering from NSCLC in advanced stages, from various European countries (Germany, France, Hungary and Poland). Patients were divided into two groups, and one was administered the TG4014 plus chemotherapy (cisplatin and gemcitabine), and only the other chemotherapy. Six months later, the researchers found that in 43% of patients who received the combined treatment (vaccine and chemotherapy), the disease did not progress, which happened only in 35% of those who belonged to the group that received only chemotherapy.
Elisabeth Quoix and his team at the University of Strasbourg (France), also found that immunotherapy performed better in patients who at baseline had a normal number of CD16 + CD56 + CD69 + lymphocytes, cells capable of hinder or enhance the immune response of the organism, so that the level of these lymphocytes in the blood of those affected by NSCLC, may help identify patients most likely to benefit from the administration of the vaccine are. For this reason, scientists stress that it is vital to perform an analysis of the biological status of patients to predict the effectiveness of immunotherapy.
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