Biotechnology company Antigenics Inc announced on Monday that its experimental cancer treatment extended survival in a small study of patients with brain cancer. The study, presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuro-Oncology in Las Vegas, has shown that patients who were vaccinated with Oncophage following brain cancer surgery lived on average for 10.5 months. The trial has involved twelve people.

The vaccine has proven to be “incredible safe” with no significant side effects, the authors noted. Four patients in the study lived for about 12 months, one lived for 2.5 years. Previous studies have shown that patients who survived after brain cancer treatment lived an average of 6.5 months.

“This study demonstrated significant tumor-specific immune responses leading to a proliferation of T-cells which did not exist in these patients before vaccination,” said Parsa, associate professor at the University of California, San Francisco. Parsa said these patients are the most challenging to treat because their survival is typically three to six months. Phase II of the study is scheduled to begin this year, with the results being presented early in 2009.

The National Cancer Institute plans to sponsor two new trials of the vaccine, one in children and the other in adults. The company is testing the vaccine against seven types of tumours, including cancers of the skin, colon, pancreas and kidney.

Glioma is the most common type of brain cancer; 19,000 cases occur in the United States each year, according to the National Cancer Institute. Surgery is the standard first treatment for these patients.