MONDAY, Jan. 17, 2005 (HealthDayNews) -- Vaccines that contain tumor proteins help fight deadly melanoma skin cancer by increasing the number of immune system killer T-cells that can attack the tumor, says research in the Jan. 17 issue of the Journal of Experimental Medicine.
It was already known that tumor protein vaccines could successfully treat some people with advanced melanoma. But this is the first research to identify how these vaccines actually work, according to the study.
A better understanding of T-cell populations that expand after vaccination may help researchers develop more effective anti-tumor vaccines.
Many melanoma patients have tumor-specific T-cells in their blood and tumors. But these T-cells don't attack and kill the tumor.
The researchers believe certain T-cells activated by the vaccine cause changes that alter the environment around the tumor, prompting other T-cells to spring into action and attack the tumor.
More information
The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more about melanoma.
