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Vaccine against kidney cancer may be on its way

Category: Cancer Detection and Tumor Markers

A team of scientists published a study suggesting that a vaccine they developed may be an effective treatment against kidney cancer. In the future, this therapy may be widely available for patients who, with the help of a lab test, find out they have this malignant disease.

Nearly 65,000 individuals in the U.S. will be newly diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2012, as estimated by the National Cancer Institute. Another estimated 13,600 patients will die.

In order to find an effective treatment, researchers from the University of Tubingen evaluated a vaccine made from 10 synthetic tumor-associated peptides. The inoculation is formulated to stimulate a patient's own killer T-cells to mount an attack against kidney cancer cells that are marked by these peptides.

"This work is a milestone in the development of cancer immune therapies. The principle applied here - of active immunization against cancer antigens previously identified in cancer cells - can be used against practically all types of cancer," said researcher Hans-Georg Rammensee.

If successful in future trials, this vaccine may prove to be an effective alternative to chemotherapy, which can cause side effects.

Until that day comes, people who are worried about their kidney health can undergo a lab test to assess the function of these organs.