CLEARWATER, Fla., Jan. 25, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Cutting edge, patient-specific vaccine treatments like DCVax® provide for a longer life expectancy along with a better quality of life for brain cancer patients, an improvement over current conventional brain tumor treatments. “The vaccine that I received has extended the median survival of Grade IV brain cancer (GBM) from 14.6 months, with conventional treatment, to over 36 months,” stated Bob Gibbs, a 7 year brain cancer survivor, who has defied the odds statistically, thanks to the experimental brain cancer vaccine DCVax®.
“We are ecstatic that Northwest Biotherapeutics has resumed patient enrollment in the ongoing Phase II clinical trial, which has several dozen patients already enrolled. The preliminary results of the clinical data are showing more promise than any other treatments that the brain tumor community has seen in over 20 years,” stated Barb Gibbs, Executive Director of Miles for Hope. Conventional treatments have only extended the median survival of brain cancer patients by approximately two weeks. In addition to extending the median survival, DCVax® is also non-toxic and comes with far less side effects than conventional treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation. “We believe cancer vaccines such as DCVax® will ultimately lead to a cure for cancer. For that reason, we felt compelled to raise awareness and funding for brain cancer vaccines, to give others access to the same treatment that has saved my life,” stated Bob Gibbs.
During his battle with brain cancer, Gibbs became aware of this experimental vaccine, but at the time, his own disease was not advanced enough to qualify for this study. Ironically, he had to wait four years until his brain cancer became more advanced and aggressive in order to qualify for a clinical trial using DCVax® at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA).
As a result of Gibbs’ diagnosis and journey, Gibbs, and his wife, Barb, set out on a mission to raise awareness of brain tumors by starting Miles for Hope, a non-profit organization whose main mission is to raise national awareness and funding for cutting edge brain cancer vaccines and tumor tissue banking. Gibbs was thrilled to learn that the ongoing clinical trial of DCVax®, to which he attributes his survivorship, is once again open for additional brain cancer patients. The Gibbs’s believe that the use of the patient-specific vaccines can be the answer to a better quality of life and longevity for brain tumor patients.
Brain tumors currently affect over 200,000 people each year, one person every 3 minutes in the United States, and they are the leading cause of solid tumor cancer deaths in children under the age of 20. In addition, brain tumors are the 2nd leading cause of cancer death in males under the age of 29 and the 5th cause of cancer death in female adults 20-39.
Miles for Hope is a leading non-profit organization that raises awareness and funding for brain tumor vaccines and treatments that provide for a better quality of life, as well as provides travel assistance for patients to receive optimal treatment. Information on DCVax® clinical trial sites and tumor tissue banking can be obtained by contacting Miles for Hope at (727) 781-HOPE (4673) or visit the website at http://MilesForHope.org.
SOURCE Miles for Hope