The U. S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first vaccine “Provenge” to treat prostate cancer on Thursday, 29th April, 2010. It offers an important alternative to more intensive treatments like chemotherapy in cancer. It is a therapeutic vaccine which prevents the spread of prostate cancer in men with an advanced form of the disease.
Provenge, the vaccine for prostate cancer is not a cure for cancer and also it does not prevent men from getting prostate cancer. But, Provenge appears to unassumingly prolong survival in men who is resistant to standard treatment and cancer has advanced beyond the prostate.
Traditional vaccines prevent a disease rather than treating it. Provenge treats prostate cancer by stimulating the body’s own immune system to attack malignant cells. Provenge vaccine is produced by taking cells from a patient’s tumor and then incorporating them into a vaccine that is injected back into the patient.
Vaccine maker Dendreon Corp said that a full course of treatment would cost $93,000 for the series of three shots or about $23,000 for each extra month of life.
Behind skin cancer, Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer among U.S. men and it usually occurs in older men. Provenge vaccine is approved by FDA for hormone-resistant prostate cancer that has spread in the body but is causing no or minimal symptoms.
Firstly, the drug will be provided to 50 medical centers that took part in the clinical trials of Provenge.
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