BOISE -- A treatment has been approved by the FDA for prostate cancer -- but it's not for everyone, it's only for certain patients.
But even so, one local doctor says this treatment is a significant break through in prostate cancer treatment.
It is called a vaccine, but that isn't exactly what it is.
It's a treatment for men with advanced prostate cancer.
"This is another card to play in our hand to chronically manage that disease process," said Dr. Joe Williams, a Boise urologist.
For the first time, scientists have been able to harness the body's immune system to fight prostate cancer.
Here's how it works:
The vaccine is custom-made for each patient. Doctors remove disease-fighting white blood cells from the patient. Then, they ship these to the manufacturer, a company in Seattle where the cells are combined with a cancer protein to make them attack the cancer cells. The company then ships them back so they can be re-infused in the patients. But the treatment isn't cheap. It costs more than $90,000 per patient, for three doses.
Dr. Williams says it's not known yet if insurance will pay for it, "So, it's giving hope that they can live longer. Exactly how much longer? On average four-months."
Lynn Bender was the last of the 512 men to enroll in the study that led to FDA approval of this vaccine.
"As of this morning, I would say it is a success. I woke up today feeling the best that I had felt probably in three or four months," said Bender.
Dr. Williams says right now the vaccine is only for men in the last stages of prostate cancer, but that could change.
"You know when something like this comes on we'll try it first from a research stand point on patients that don't have many other options," said Dr. Williams. "Now, the next area of investigation will be using it in patients with earlier stages of prostate cancer, and everybody is waiting on that."
At this point, only 2,000 doses will be available and those doses will go to the centers that were involved in the FDA approval process.
Boise is not one of them.
But, Dr. Williams believes this vaccine could be available here in about a year.
