His particular form of brain tumor brings a brutal prognosis ? most patients die within a year of diagnosis ? but Keith Flood has hope.
The Ramsey husband and father of two daughters is participating in a clinical trial at The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood in which he is being injected with a vaccine made from the tissue of his own brain tumor.
Researchers hope the injections could be a breakthrough vaccine that will harness the body?s immune system to destroy the cancer cells.
It is not a cure and the treatment could be years away from federal approval, but researchers say it is a meaningful step toward even better vaccines and outcomes. In other studies, patients in precarious medical conditions ? they had all suffered a recurrence of their tumors ? were given the vaccine and lived months longer than those not enrolled in the trials.
Dr. Anthony D?Ambrosio, a neurosurgeon at Valley who is heading up the study for the hospital, said the vaccine for the malignant tumors, known as glioblastomas, ?shows promise.?
?We don?t expect it to be a cure because the tumor cells are always changing and they find a way to resist treatment,? D?Ambrosio said. ?But preliminary data show a significant improvement ? patients are living months longer.?
This particular trial is unique because other studies have focused on patients whose tumors had recurred. The patients in this study are newly diagnosed. The vaccine?s benefits are unknown when administered at this early stage.
Flood has had five out of the nine vaccine injections he will be receiving and hasn?t let his cancer or his treatment slow him down. He has barely missed work at his job on Wall Street, is back to running several miles at a clip and can frequently be found on the golf course.
?I have full faith that whatever happens will be acceptable,? Flood, 51, said. ?I haven?t been nervous about it and haven?t had a moment where I said ?Why me?? But I have thought many times that I?m so glad it?s me and not my daughters.?
More than 30 patients ? including four at Valley ? are enrolled in the Phase II study in eight hospitals nationwide. Every patient is receiving the vaccine, none are getting a placebo.
Article source: http://www.northjersey.com/news/bergen/Hope_for_brain_cancer_treatment_lies_within_experimental_vaccine_being_tested_at_Ridgewood_hospital.html
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