Vaccine May Help Treat Brain Cancer

Second Opinion

While many other attempts for cancer vaccines are ongoing, the new vaccine approach is simpler than others, says Behnam Badie, MD, professor of neurosurgery and director of the brain tumor program at City of Hope Cancer Center in Duarte, Calif., who reviewed the findings for WebMD.

"His technique is less complicated, because it requires less manipulation in the lab and does not require tissue from the patient," Badie says.

But he has a few concerns. "Only 30% of [glioblastoma] tumors make this EGFRvIII variant," he says, a limitation cited by Sampson as well. So it wouldn't work well for all glioblastomas.

When tumors return, they don't make the variant anymore, Badie says, so the vaccine wouldn't be expected to work anymore.

Still, he calls the new findings ''very exciting."