Antisoma, a biotechnology company specializing in the development of novel drugs for the treatment of cancer, released a statement that the vaccine ASA404 improves anticancer responses and survival for patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

ASA404 is known as a vascular disrupting agent (VDA). ASA404 is different from angiogenenesis inhibitors that disrupt the new formation of blood vessels. This vaccine disrupts established blood vessels that feed cancer cells.

The researchers concluded that ASA404 appears promising in the treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer. A Phase III clinical trial is expected to begin in 2008. This is the last step prior to FDA review.

Researchers are reporting that a new vaccine designed to treat breast cancer appears to be safe in women with advanced disease. It showed signs of slowing down tumor growth too.

The Neuvenge vaccine, made by Dendreon Corporation -- maker of the Provenge prostate cancer vaccine -- targets the aggressive Her-2 positive form of breast cancer, which affects 20 to 30 percent of breast cancer patients. Using immune cells from a cancer patient's own body, Neuvenge is a tailor-made therapy.

Reports about Neuvenge, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, indicate the vaccine did not cause any serious side effects and of the 18 women who participated in the Phase I study, there was a reduction in the size of a tumor in one patient. In three other women, the disease seemed to stabilize for as long as a year.

The distribution of the different types of human papilloma virus that cause cervical cancer are consistent across the world, according to a new study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

This means that the vaccines that are currently available to protect against the two most prevalent types of HPV could prevent about 70 percent of invasive cervical cancer cases not just in the U.S, but around the world.

The researchers report that HPV16 is the most common and HPV18 is the second-most common typie in all continents. Gardasil by Merck protects against both of these types as does a similar vaccine developed by GlaxoSmithKline.

Lead study author Jennifer Smith, Ph.D cautions, "While having these vaccines represents a significant step forward, HPV-vaccinated women will need to receive clear messages that they still need to obtain their recommended Pap smears for cervical cancer prevention, given that HPV vaccines will not prevent all invasive cancer or high-grade lesions."

There's good news for prostate cancer patients who've had the disease spread to other parts of the body -- a new treatments, currently being tried out on hundreds of patients with promising results. The drug is called GVAX and it's referred to as a vaccine, although it doesn't work like most vaccines in the sense that it is administered after diagnosis and progression of the disease. According to this news story, GVAX works by adding prostate cancer cells to the body, but these new cells are unable to replicate.

Several members of my family have battled prostate cancer to varying degrees of success, and I know that it's really widespread. So this is great news, and I hope GVAX is the miracle the prostate cancer is looking for.

By the way, if you have prostate cancer, they're recruiting patients for their clinical trials.

The Food an Drug Administration is not going to grant a priority review to GlaxoSmithKline's experimental cancer vaccine Cervarix. Adding pressure is recent controversy surrounding its diabetes drug Avandia.

Cervarix will now have to go through a standard 10-month review, instead of going the fast-track route. GlaxoSmithKline is defending its diabetes drug after a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine said that those taking the drug are at greater risks of heart attacks.

GlaxoSmithKline expects to market the drug Cervarix in the United States sometime in 2008.

New hope may be an injection away for patients living with glioma, a terminal brain cancer that comes with a life expectancy of about 25 weeks post-diagnosis.

A new vaccine called Vitaspen is made by using tissue extracted from each person's cancerous tumor. The tissue is used as a unique footprint for the vaccine that targets destructive tumor tissue while sparing healthy tissue in the same region.

Vitaspen is only in the first stage of clinical human trials, but researchers are pleased with the promise of the new drug -- particularly the benefits trial participants are gaining form the treatment. They have reported no adverse side effects, and the drug has increased the overall survival rate.

Results of stage one trials will determine if the drug warrants stage two testing.

There's a new vaccine out there that stimulates the immune system to find and destroy breast cancer cells. In early experiments, the vaccine held off or stopped the growth of tumors in all of the mice studied. Some mice were even cured.

Think about this:

Research presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research reveals this vaccine is different from most under development that help kick-start the immune systems of sick patients. In this case, the vaccine tells the immune system to recognize breast cancer cells and to attack and kill them on the spot.

One researcher says breast cancer cells usually fly under the radar of the immune system. To combat this problem, the injectable vaccine uses a bacteria-type substance that is altered to contain the gene HER2/neu and also antibodies that rev up the immune system. This makes the body react and wipe out cells containing HER2/neu.

If continued studies prove promising, the vaccine would work for the 15 to 25 percent of women whose breast cancers overexpress HER2/neu.

It's not yet clear if the drug Gardasil, the vaccine intended to prevent the human papillomavirus (HPV) in females, is effective for men. But some men are signing up for the chance to take the drug.

Gay and bisexual men in San Francisco are asking their doctors for the vaccine with hopes it will prevent anal and penile cancer, also caused by HPV.

"The prevalence of anal cancer among gay and bisexual men is very high," says Jason Riggs, spokesman for the STOP AIDS Project. "So that's why some people are looking at this as a possible preventive cure for anal cancer and HPV that causes anal cancer."

Anal cancer occurs among gay and bisexual men at a rate 35 times higher than that of the general population. And it occurs more in those infected with HIV.

The Human Papillomaviruses (HPV) vaccine called Gardasil can protect from the infection of four types of the HPV virus. Two of these types cause up to 70 percent of all cases of cervical cancer.

Recommendations were released by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) regarding the use of Gardasil. The FDA approved Gardasil in June 2006.

The role of ACIP is to advise the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) about vaccine usage and vaccine-preventable diseases.

The recommendations published by the ACIP:

• Recommended age for routine vaccination of girls is 11-12 years.
• The vaccine can be given to girls as young as 9 years.
• Catch-up vaccination is recommended for girls and women between the ages of 13 and 26 years who were not vaccinated previously or who did not complete the full vaccine series (the vaccine is administered in three separate doses).
• Routine cervical cancer screening remains important following vaccination.

The ACIP's recommendations can influence policy and practice, but are not directly linked with school and daycare entry laws. These laws are made by individual states.

There's been much press lately about the cervical cancer vaccine, its merits, its implications, and the debate surrounding the issue of vaccinating young girls against the sexually transmitted virus HPV.

Enter a new vaccine -- the ovarian cancer vaccine.

Early clinical trial results are promising for this vaccine, intended to fight off ovarian cancer tumors with patients' own cells -- but without the toxicity of traditional chemotherapy.

Says Dr. Ed Staren of Cancer Treatment Centers of America, "We're able to identify the specific components of the tumor and target it for individual therapy for the patient."

Doctors would surgically remove a patient's tumor and then send it to a lab where tumor cells would be used to create a vaccine specifically for the patient.

A second round of clinical trials to study the effectiveness of this vaccine will begin this summer.

Albuquerque, New Mexico is on the verge of becoming the latest state to require sixth-grade girls to be vaccinated against the HPV virus. Currently only Texas requires the vaccine, other states are in the process of considering having the vaccine become mandatory.

Federal regulators have approved the vaccine, made by Merck & Co, but the issue of making it a requirement for girls has been surrounded by controversy. The federal government approved Gardasil, a three-dose vaccine that protects against the human papilloma virus, or HPV, in June 2006 for females ages nine to twenty six. The vaccine protects against the HPV strains that cause cervical, vulvar and vaginal cancers.

Some states want the drug to be free to all girls who want it and other states are considering making the cervical vaccine mandatory for girls entering six grade unless their parents sign a form refusing it.

More of The Cancer Blog's coverage of this issue can be found here:

Merck stops cervical cancer vaccine campaign

Texas first to mandate cervical cancer vaccine

Cervical cancer vaccine discount pursued for poor nations

New Hampshire first to immunize young girls

Girls should see gynecologist in early teens

Thirteen year old girl is the first in Britain to have the new cervical cancer vaccine

Vaccine for cervical cancer to be administered to sixth graders

Concerns raised about new cervical cancer vaccine

Cervical cancer vaccine available for college students

Cancer vaccines virginity and sex: a battle first for acceptance

Women In Government applaud FDA approval of cervical cancer vaccine

First cervical cancer vaccine approved

Merck, maker of the cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil, is backing off its lobbying campaign following pressure from medical groups and parents who believe the vaccine should not be mandated as a school attendance requirement for adolescent girls.

The public outcry that caused Merck to announce its stop order on Tuesday stems from the fact that the vaccine protects against the sexually transmitted human papilloma virus (HPV), which causes cervical cancer. School-mandated vaccines are typically for diseases spread through casual contact, such as measles and mumps.

Merck's medical director for vaccines, Dr. Richard M. Haupt says, "We're concerned that our role in supporting school requirements is a distraction from that goal, and as such have suspended our lobbying efforts," adding that the company will continue providing information about the vaccine upon request.

Gardasil, launched in June and the first vaccine to prevent cervical cancer, has inspired controversy since day one. There's the cost -- $360 for three required shots -- and all sorts of insurance concerns and conservative groups who worry the vaccine encourages premarital sex and interferes with parental rights. Even those in support of the vaccine -- like the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Practitioners -- question Merck's quick push to market this drug, especially in light of the company's withdrawn painkiller Vioxx.

"I believe that their timing was a little bit premature so soon after (Gardasil's) release, before we have a picture of whether there are going to be any untoward side effects," says Dr. Anne Francis, who chairs an American Academy of Pediatrics committee.

Legislatures in 20 states have taken steps to mandate the vaccine for young girls. And with the exception of Texas governor Rick Perry's February 2 executive order requiring Texas girls entering the sixth grade in 2008 get vaccinated, nothing has been made official so far.

Come September 2008, 11 and 12-year-old girls in Texas entering the sixth grade will receive three shots of the Gardasil vaccine used to prevent cervical cancer.

Texas is the first state to require that young schoolgirls receive the cervical cancer vaccine, approved for use by the FDA in June and proven to protect against the most common strains of the human papilloma virus (HPV) -- the cause of most cervical cases cervical cancers.

Texas governor Rick Perry (R), who just signed an executive order making this mandate official, believes the high cost of treating diseases and ensuring the health and well-being of our population justifies the vaccine requirement.

Perry, who has been met with opposition from those concerned that HPV vaccination of young girls promotes premarital sex and interferes with parental rights, will allow parents to opt out of the vaccination requirement with documentation citing religious or philosophical reasons. But he hopes most will comply with the cervical cancer vaccine he believes is no different than immunization against diseases such as polio.

Gardasil drugmaker Merck stands to make billions if the vaccine is made mandatory across the country. The series of three necessary shots cost $360.

Perry, who received $6,000 from Merck's political action committee during his re-election campaign, has other ties to the company. His former chief of staff is one of Merck's three lobbyists in Texas, and his current chief of staff's mother-in-law is state director for Women in Government -- a group active in introducing bills across the country that affect women.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is the first country in the Middle East to acquire the cervical cancer vaccine, Gardasil.

Comparisons of cervical cancer statistics for the years 1998 through 2005 show incidences of the disease tripling during this span of time. So acquisition of the vaccine is a true blessing for the women of this country.

"We are proud to have placed the UAE on the map with leading countries such as the US, Australia and EU by approving Gardasil, the first breakthrough vaccine that prevents the cancer," said Dr Wisam Haddadin, Franchise Manager, Gulf Region, Merck Sharp & Dohme.

Gardasil, distributed by Merck, Sharp, & Dohme, is now available in more than 33 countries for the prevention of cervical cancer, most commonly caused by HPV (human papilloma virus). About 2.3 million women are currently diagnosed with cervical cancer worldwide. About 800 women die of the disease every day.

There are sometimes silver linings to the darkest of cancer clouds. I know -- because I have the dark cloud of HER2 positive breast cancer hanging over my head. HER2 positive means the tumor removed from my breast was aggressive. It aggressively over-expressed a protein that accelerates tumor growth. And it led to a poor prognosis -- that might be considered a good one too.

You see, research on the whole HER2 issue is turning up some pretty powerful potions. Like Herceptin -- the drug that miraculously cuts recurrence upwards of 50 percent for positive women like me. I was a lucky recipient of this drug. And the pharmacist who mixed the drug for all 17 of my infusions tells me it's really a good thing I have this HER2 problem -- because the drugs created to attack the problem may just cure me of my disease.

So in an odd turnabout -- from bad luck to good fortune -- I am not so sad my tumor was aggressive. It means there are bonus treatments for me. And if my cancer comes back and Herceptin no longer works, there is another drug called Tykerb. And now the Army is leading its own breast cancer vaccination study. The focus -- HER2.

Early study results from Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. suggest a 50 percent reduction in disease recurrence for HER2 positive women who receive a vaccination of AE37.

AE37 targets HER2 and boosts the body's immune system so it can battle the protein before it stimulates growth. It's similar to Herceptin, but the activity of AE37 stimulates a patient's own immune system to recognize the cancer target rather than interacting with the target directly.

Should the Food and Drug Administration decide to support this study, it will proceed to Phase 3 testing, which includes a much larger pool of participants.