Experimental vaccine extends life of men with prostate cancer

A vaccine that primes the immune system to attack prostate cancer can extend the lives of men in the advanced stages of the disease, researchers say. Men who had the experimental vaccine lived on average 8 to 9 months longer than men who had inactive, placebo injections.

The research appeared in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, published by the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

The trial began with funding from a company called Therion Biologics, and from the US National Cancer Institute. Ongoing funding came from a second company, called BN ImmunoTherapeutics. Several of the researchers worked for these companies or owned stock in them.