Linda Liau's Brain Tumor Vaccine Kept 20-25% of 331 Patients Alive Years Later
Updated
Updated · brownalumnimagazine.com · Jun 23
Linda Liau's Brain Tumor Vaccine Kept 20-25% of 331 Patients Alive Years Later
1 articles · Updated · brownalumnimagazine.com · Jun 23
Summary
JAMA Oncology results from trials run between 2003 and 2019 showed 20% to 25% of 331 glioblastoma patients given Liau's vaccine were still alive years later.
The approach used patients' own white blood cells, exposed outside the brain to tumor cells taken during surgery and then reinfused to trigger an immune attack despite the blood-brain barrier.
Glioblastoma remains one of the deadliest cancers, with fewer than 5% of patients surviving five years after diagnosis, underscoring the scale of the survival gain.
Liau's team is now studying why a subset benefited most, focusing on blood, cerebrospinal fluid and the gut microbiome; MGMT methylation has emerged as one possible biomarker.