TRAINING THE BODY TO FIGHT CANCER

What if you could dispense with chemo and radiation and use your immune system to destroy cancer cells. That's the principle behind Provenge, a vaccine used to treat prostate cancer, recently approved by [US] FDA. The men who used Provenge in studies so far (all of whom had advanced prostate cancer) lived an extra four -and -a -half months, on average - but some got an extra three years. Equally important, side effects were minimal. The results are imperfect and the cost high - more that $90,000 for a full round of treatment -but the Provenge is still a remarkable development, Len Lichtenfeld, MD, deputy chief medical officer for the American Cancer Society, said when the vaccine was approved.

 TRAINING THE BODY TO FIGHT CANCER

The reason: It provides evidence that the immune system can be stimulated to fight cancer. Already the FDA is considering a second cancer - treatment vaccine - this one aimed at a hard -to - treat form of lymphoma.