Lung Cancer Vaccine Being Tested - KCBD NewsChannel 11 Lubbock

Exciting results from a small study testing a new vaccine to treat the most common form of lung cancer. Early findings show the experimental vaccine wiped out all signs of cancer in a handful of patients and slowed the spread of the disease in others.

The vaccine, called G-VAX, is made from the patient's tumor cells and works by boosting the immune system. The treatment worked best in patients in the advanced stages of their disease and there were few side effects. While these early results are promising, researchers stress that the vaccine is still in the preliminary testing stage and has a number of hurdles to cross before it is considered for approval.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the U.S. The research is being led by Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas and is funded by the National Cancer Institute. The findings are published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

All the patients in the study had non-small cell lung cancer. For more information about cancer research studies at the Mary Crowley Medical Research Center at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas, you can ( click here ).