WESTCHESTER BRAIN TUMOR PROGRAM SEEKS PATIENTS FOR GROUNDBREAKING CLINICAL TRIAL TREATING DEADLY FORM OF BRAIN CANCER

Trial Involves a New Brain Cancer Vaccine, Tailored to a Patient's Own Tumor

Hope on the Horizon:  Early Stage Trials Are Extending Survival Rates by Two to Three Times

Some 17,000 Americans are diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme every year, a deadly form of brain cancer (the type that killed Senator Ted Kennedy), and only two percent of them survive longer than five years – even with treatment.  But now, a groundbreaking vaccine is lengthening the lives of people suffering from these fast-growing malignant tumors. The vaccine is being tested in clinical trials offered through the Westchester Brain Tumor Program, a professional collaboration between the Westchester Neuroscience Research Foundation and the Cancer Center at Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco, NY.

Patients in the Hudson Valley with newly diagnosed glioblastomas are now being recruited for the clinical trial. “The vaccine is actually “customized” for each patient,” notes Dr. John M. Abrahams, a neurosurgeon with Brain & Spine Surgeons of New York and the Westchester Brain Tumor Program, and founder of the Westchester Neuroscience Research Foundation. “The vaccine is made from the patient’s own cells, taking account what’s unique about that particular tumor. It then stimulates the body’s immune system to attack the cancer cells.”  He says that the vaccine is used in tandem with radiation therapy and chemotherapy, and that early stage trials have shown that the tumor-specific vaccine has extended survival rates by two to three times.

According to Dr. Abrahams, the main problem with glioblastoma tumors is they become enmeshed in brain tissue, making them nearly impossible to completely remove through surgery. The remnants quickly grow back, making this type of tumor one of the most difficult malignant brain tumors to treat.The new vaccine is created by using a heat shock protein (produced by the patient’s immune system) harvested from the tumor itself.  An adjuvant, or an agent that increases the immunological effect, is added to the protein, and the combination is re-injected into the skin.The Westchester Brain Tumor Program clinical trial is sponsored by the University of California, San Francisco and Agenus, Inc. The formal name of the study is Protocol C-100-37: PHASE 2, multi-center, single arm investigation of HSPPC-96 vaccine with temolozomide in patients with newly diagnosed GBM.

For information on enrolling in the clinical trial, please contact Jan Strack, RN, Westchester Brain Tumor Program Coordinator, by phone at (914) 948-3008 or via email at braintumor@bssny.com. Further information is available at www.bssny.com/braintumorprogram.

About BSSNY

Brain & Spine Surgeons of New York, the oldest and largest neurosurgery private practice group in Westchester County and one of the largest in the New York metropolitan area, has been in existence for over twenty-five years.  With seven board-certified neurosurgeons and one orthopedic spine surgeon, BSSNY is a leader in brain and spinal surgery in the New York metropolitan area. For more information, the public is invited to visit www.bssny.com or call 914-948-6688.

About the Westchester Brain Tumor Program

The Westchester Brain Tumor Program is a professional collaboration between the Westchester Neuroscience Foundation and the Cancer Center at Northern Westchester Hospital. It encompasses leading professionals in the areas of neurosurgery, neuro-oncology, and radiation oncology, combining their expertise to devise an individual treatment program for each patient.