TEHRAN- Iranian scientists have managed to produce brain cancer vaccine, an expert in immunology whose company is involved in production of the vaccine has said.

Dr. Noruz Delirezh explained that the laboratory procedures are already finished and the vaccine is being injected to the patients, IRNA reported on Wednesday.
The vaccine has been used on the patients for two years now, he said, adding that the treatment is funded by the Health Ministry and executed by Urmia University of Medical Sciences.
“Our treatment version is closely similar to the model used in other countries; however, the cost of this treatment amounts to $94,000 for every patient in the U.S., but estimated at only around $23,000 in Iran,” he said.

“The preparations for producing vaccine for treatment of breast cancer has also been made and we are waiting for funding to begin the production phases,” said the expert.

Brain cancer vaccine is a new treatment for glioblastoma (an aggressive form of brain tumors) which is still in late stage human trials but results from the 11-year international study are already “remarkably promising” with some patients living more than seven years after treatment.

According to the Independent, The treatment for people with Glioblastoma works by extracting dendritic cells, key players in the immune system, from patient’s blood and mixing them with markers from their tumor before injecting them back in to the body to prime it to attack the cancer.

Glioblastoma is one of the most aggressive and commonly diagnosed types of brain tumor in adults and is currently treated with surgery followed by radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Patients who receive this care live for between 15 and 17 months on average.

But almost a third, 100 of the 331 patients enrolled in the new trial from the UK, the U.S., Germany and Canada, are classed as “extended survivors” and lived an average of 3.4 years after surgery.

SJ/MQ/MG