SUNDAY, June 6, 2004 (HealthDayNews) -- A peptide-derived vaccine to treat melanoma shows promise, a new study has found.
The finding suggests it may be possible to activate a patient's own immune system to combat melanoma. The research was presented June 6 at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in New Orleans.
"This is the first time we have evaluated peptide-derived melanoma vaccine results from a multicenter cooperative group trial. We have found evidence that the vaccine stimulates an immune response, and that it is reasonable to evaluate the correlation between disease course and immune response for patients who receive the vaccine," principal investigator Dr. John Kirkwood, director of the Melanoma Center at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, said in a prepared statement.
The multiepitope CD8 T-cell vaccine is comprised of three peptides derived from tumor-associated antigens of melanoma.
More information
The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more about melanoma.
