Survival rates have historically been extremely low. In the laboratory, cancer proteins extracted from the tumor are combined and cultured with dendritic cells taken from the patient's blood. The new dendritic cells resulting from this union are re-injected into the patient where they recognize and destroy any lingering malignant tumor cells. Several injections of a small amount of the vaccine are typically scheduled over a six-week period. Early studies show that the vaccine significantly increases the survival of patients with malignant brain tumors.
Cytokines are proteins that are known to stimulate the immune system.
GM-CSF supports dendritic cell formation and function, and has been found in animal studies to be the most effective cytokine in treating tumors of the central nervous system. It does not require extensive laboratory processing to make the vaccine individually for each patient. The Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute is also aggressively pursuing new gene-therapy strategies for intracranial lesions, modifying brain tumors to make them more vulnerable to attack either by the immune system or by chemotherapeutic drugs. Our scientists are focused specifically on genetic research as it relates to immunotherapy, investigating potential viruses to shuttle therapeutic genes to treat brain tumors. We have assessed the efficacy and safety of a replication conditional HSV mutant in vitro and in vivo.