Coming: Vaccine That Fights Prostate Cancer

Women were the beneficiaries of the first cancer vaccine―Gardasil, approved in 2006 to prevent cervical cancer. Several weeks ago, the same drug was made available to young males to prevent genital warts. And now it looks as if the first vaccine approved to fight cancer, by enhancing the body's immune response to cancer cells, will benefit males. Last month the Food and Drug Administration committed to deciding the fate of the prostate cancer vaccine Provenge by May 1, 2010. Prostate cancer is an appealing target because it moves slowly (even men whose cancer comes back after prostate surgery often live for well over a decade). That wide window of opportunity gives a vaccine time to prompt the immune system into fighting the body's own cells when they've become cancerous. (The immune system routinely fends off some tumors on its own, generally tiny cancers that are never detected, much less diagnosed.)

But while Provenge is on track to enter the market first, a less-sexy vaccine that hasn't caught the eye of biotech investors could work just as well at a much lower cost.

Read more at Zero.