Medical Information Center

The FDA (the U.S. Agency of Medicines), gave its approval to the first therapeutic vaccine against prostate cancer, designed for the own immune system to attack tumor. “Provenge” is the first therapy of its kind to support this regulatory agency.

It is indicated for those patients with prostate cancer who have stopped responding to hormone therapy. Though considered a vaccine, it is not a preventive measure to avoid the disease.

The treatment designed by a Seattle-based company, Dendreon Corp, encourages own defense system to attack cancer cells. This will extract the patient’s white blood cells, which are processed in the laboratory with a protein genetically modified to make them more potent against the tumor, then reintroduced in the blood of affected.

By using the person’s own blood cells, does not cause side effects that it produces currently used chemotherapy against this disease.

The phase III clinical trial IMPACT, involving 512 men with this type of tumor, found that Provenge reduced the risk of mortality in these patients by 22.5% compared with placebo and prolonged their survival an average of four months .

Following the move by the FDA, the company must supply the vaccine to approximately 50 U.S. centers and expects to increase its production capacity next year, which will expand its offices to other states.

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