Singaporean Doctors Claim Colon Cancer Vaccine Stops Other Tumors

November 9, 2007 5:55 a.m. EST

Singapore(AHN) - Singaporean doctors have claimed that a colon cancer vaccine they developed in partnership with Dutch biotechnicians is also effective against advanced-stage tumors on the head, neck, lung and skin.

Channelnewsasia.com reported on Thursday that Professor Soo Khee Chee, director of the National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS), said the findings were the result of two phases of clinical trials of the vaccine involving several cancer patients. The vaccine reportedly also has no side effects on patients.

The NCCS doctors and the Singaporean-owned DanDrit Biotech of Denmark developed the vaccine using dendritic cells from a cancer patient's own blood.

Another NCCS doctor, Toh Han Chong, explained that the immune cells are grown in a lab through a special method and injected to the patient after a week. The injected cells then activate the body's immune system to fight and shrink the cancer cells.

The vaccine's efficacy will be tested in the third phase of clinical trial involving 300 colon cancer patients. It is not yet commercially available.