Cancer Theraphy Blog

The experience with melanoma, a malignant skin tumor

Melanoma has many advantages and opportunities to evaluate anti-cancer vaccines. First, the nodules are visible on the skin, which facilitates the evaluation (for example, series of photographs). Second, the available treatments for advanced melanoma, with metastasis, are toxic, and there is a medical and social interest in developing treatment options more gentle and tolerable. Third, the therapies available today (for advanced disease) still leave much to be desired in terms of effectiveness. Finally, there is ample evidence indicating that melanoma could be sensitive to immune manipulation – although the current results are modest in this regard.

Melanoma: Initial studies in comparative studies versus results

Among the many vaccines is evaluated based on the ganglioside GM2. Gangliosides are substances that are part of cell membranes. In preliminary studies, various formulations of vaccines based on this and other gangliosides stimulated the production of anti-melanoma antibodies. It could be argued that the antibodies do not always exhibit the ability to change the course of melanoma. In a non-comparative clinical trial, review of results showed that among all patients treated with this type of vaccine, those who increased their level of anti-ganglioside antibodies in blood had better outcomes than those who did not. (more…)