A personalized vaccine targeting glioblastoma — one of the most aggressive and lethal forms of brain cancer — has shown encouraging results in early clinical trials led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The treatment uses modified DNA molecules designed to stimulate the patient’s own immune system to attack cancer cells by recognizing each tumor’s unique proteins.
The vaccine proved safe and generated broad immune responses, appearing to increase recurrence-free survival in some patients after surgery. While still in early stages, the approach opens a promising new front in the battle against a disease that affects roughly four in every 100,000 people in the United States and has long resisted effective treatment.
