Availability of Cancer Vaccines
The first monoclonal antibody therapy treatment, approved in 1986, was made from the B cells of mice. Because the antibodies were slightly different than those produced by humans, the immune systems of the patients produced antibodies against the mouse antibodies in 85% of subjects. This made the treatment far less effective, and future antibody treatments focused on human B cells.
The FDA approved the second monoclonal antibody treatment, Abciximab, in 1994 and two others in 1997. Currently, eighteen such therapies have been approved, and 150 therapies are undergoing clinical trials. They are being developed for melanoma, kidney cancer, leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma, breast cancer, prostate cancer, colorectal cancer, ovarian cancer, lung cancer, and others. The FDA has already approved antibody treatments for melanoma, kidney cancer, leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma, breast cancer, and colorectal cancer.
The future is promising for cancer vaccines. With all of the advancement made in cancer treatment vaccines and the demonstrated success of cancer prevention vaccines and monoclonal antibody treatment, it is difficult not to be optimistic. Much more time will still be needed for cancer treatment vaccines, however, as the immediate benefits lie in the expansion of treatment by and development of vaccines to prevent cancer-causing viruses.
(Update!: Vaccine to stop return of colon cancer to be available in Europe
in June 2008. Press
release from Vaccinogen.)