Listening to the radio, I heard that Singapore just developed a vaccine for treating colon cancer: the most likely cause of father’s metastatic cancer of unknown primary.
This is not just "chemotherapy in a pill", like Xeloda is, but it’s a real cancer treatment! Basically the medicine customises the cancer patient’s own special immune cells! These immune cells will become a cocktail of antigens trying to kill the cancer cells.
Just think about it: why does a tiny country like Singapore succeeds in finding a vaccine where mighty rich US can’t? It has nothing to do with "can’t", it’s just having the priorities right. Why shoot up your money in Iraq if you could be helping your own US citizens???
I googled up the news, so you can just read it below:
SINGAPORE : Singapore doctors have developed a new cancer vaccine that’s said to be more than twice as effective as those that are currently available.
The new vaccine has been used to treat colon cancer, which is one of the most common cancers today. And doctors said the vaccine is likely to work on other cancers on the head, neck, lung and skin as well.
64-year-old Madam Phua Ah Moey is one of 20 end-stage colon cancer patients who were on the cancer vaccine’s Phase II trial.
She was diagnosed with colon cancer 10 years ago. She approached the National Cancer Centre Singapore three years ago when her she had a relapse.
Patients at the advance stage of cancer usually don’t survive beyond 12 months.
Madam Phua underwent chemotherapy but she did not take to the treatment well.
Last March, when her doctor asked if she would like to try out a new cancer vaccine that doctors in Singapore have developed, she readily agreed as her cancer was not responding to other treatment options.
Over five months, Madam Phua was injected fortnightly with the new cancer vaccine.
A year later, her tumour shrank by more than half. Her cancer remained well controlled 18 months on, after her last injection.
Madam Phua said: "When I was undergoing chemotherapy, I felt terrible. I kept vomiting at home. Later Dr Toh, (my oncologist at National Cancer Centre Singapore), asked me to take injections.
"I had 10 injections (once every two weeks). Now, I feel more energetic (and I can walk better)."
Doctors said the new vaccine has fewer side effects. This is because it works by customising the patient’s own special immune cells (Dendritic Cells) into a cocktail of antigens that are more powerful and efficient in killing cancer cells.
The vaccine is the result of the combined expertise of Singapore cancer specialists and Danish DanDrit Biotech – a company mostly owned by Singaporeans.
"This is a unique study because we take the blood cells from the patient and in a series of processes, we grow the cells in the lab and give it back to the patient in 7 days’ time. These cells will activate the body’s immune system to fight the cancer," said Dr Toh Han Chong, Principal Investigator, Laboratory of Cell Therapy and Cancer Vaccine, Division of Medical Sciences. He is a senior consultant in Medical Oncology at the National Cancer Centre Singapore.
"We saw 7 patients out of 20 with disease control, and one of whom had a pretty good shrinkage of the cancer with no side effects."
On average, the new cancer vaccine has a good response rate of 35%. This is almost 3 times more effective than the 11.2% of the other cancer vaccines currently available.
The vaccine is now ready for Phase 3 of the trial where its efficacy will be tested on over 300 colon cancer patients.
For Singapore, the study is significant as it shows that Singapore has the capability to develop and commercialise a drug.
"This particular vaccine has been shown to be effective on head and neck cancers, lung cancers, and also for a particular kind of skin cancer," said Professor Soo Khee Chee, Director of the National Cancer Centre Singapore. He is also a senior consultant in Surgical Oncology.
Having proved its efficacy in treating advance-stage cancers, Professor Soo believes the new vaccine should also work in treating early stages of cancer.
In Singapore, 1,000 people are diagnosed with colon cancer every year and 600 of them are treated at the National Cancer Centre.
Dr Toh and his team will be publishing their findings in a few months’ time. – CNA /ls