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CBS News Transcripts
SHOW: CBS Morning News 6:30 AM EST CBS
March 30, 2007 Friday
LENGTH: 349 words

HEADLINE: Food and Drug Administration could soon give approval to experimental vaccine, Provenge, for prostate cancer

ANCHORS: SUSAN McGINNIS

REPORTERS: Dr. JON LaPOOK

BODY:


SUSAN McGINNIS, anchor:

There's a new tool in the fight against prostate cancer. It's an experimental vaccine and could soon get FDA approval. Dr. Jon LaPook reports.

Dr. JON LaPOOK reporting:

When Eduardo Garcia's prostate cancer spread to his hip bone six years ago, his doctors decided to try something new. They injected him with a vaccine to ignite his immune system to fight the cancer. After three doses of a drug called Provenge, his cancer is in check.

Mr. EDUARDO GARCIA: And it worked for me and it could work for many people in the future.

LaPOOK: Vaccine therapy is a new frontier of cancer treatment. It doesn't require invasive surgery or toxic chemotherapy with all its side effects. Here's how it works: Tumors sometimes trick the body into thinking cancer cells are normal. Provenge tells the immune system that cancer cells are the enemy and should be attacked. One study shows that 127 patients with advanced prostate cancer survived an average of four and a half months longer than those not on the drug.

Dr. DAVID PENSON (University of Washington School of Medicine): This is a very desperate group of patients who have no other options. The cancer has spread all over their body. So that four-month survival advantage really means a lot to these men.

LaPOOK: Right now, this vaccine is still experimental and only for prostate cancer that does not respond to hormone therapy.

Dr. MITCHELL BENSON (New York Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center): And where this is going to have the most applicability in the future is for the patient who has the very first signs of relapse, where the amount of cancer in the body is not so great, and in that instance this could result in prolonged remissions.

LaPOOK: Scientists are also working on therapy to boost the immune system to fight other kinds of cancers. The drugmaker expects the FDA will decide whether to approve this prostate cancer vaccine by May 15th. Dr. Jon LaPook, CBS News, New York.

McGINNIS: Still to come, your Friday morning weather. And in sports, the bounces go the Bulls' way in their bid for a playoff berth.

LOAD-DATE: March 30, 2007