Brno University opens research centre for anti-cancer vaccines

2010-01-26

Masaryk University in Brno has created a new research centre, which will work on the development of new methods of cancer treatment, according to the Czech CTK news agency. The centre involves 58 scientists and has an annual budget of CZK 50m (€1.9m).
The new method will use anti-cancer vaccines derived from patients’ own compromised tissues, extracted during surgical procedures. The vaccines will then be injected into a patient’s body to stimulate the immune system to stop the growth of the tumour or even eliminate it. So far the vaccine has been tested on 26 patients, and 50% of them reacted positively to the treatment. The method needs improvement, but even at the current, early stage of development it appears to cause less adverse effects than traditional radiotherapy or chemotherapy. The new method, if it replaces standard treatment, is expected to reduce the cost of cancer treatment, as the manufacturing cost of the vaccine is CZK 300,000-400,000 (€11,597-15,467), whereas a one-year course of treatment for a cancer patient which involves traditional methods costs CZK 1m (€38,668).