When prostate cancer spreads, the prognosis can be grim. However, a Bay Area hospital is hoping a new medication can change that. Doctors are now in phase three clinical trials of GVAX, a prostate cancer vaccine.
CPMC oncologist Dr. Ari Baron is heading up the clinical trial on the GVAX prostate vaccine. Developed by Cell Genesys, Inc., a South San Francisco company. It's specifically designed for metastatic prostate cancer.
Ari Baron, M.D., CPMC oncologist: "Usually we think of vaccines as prevention. We're trying to prevent the flu or prevent smallpox. In this case we're really trying to treat a disease that has already set in."
The vaccine is placed just under the skin to trigger an immune response.
Dr. Ari Baron: "White blood cells in your skin see these foreign cells. They're stimulated then to respond to them, if you will, and train your immune system to make perhaps antibodies or t-cells against the prostate cancer. That's how the theory goes."
Read full story in ABC7 News
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