
<b>Vaccine</b>
Dana Farber has a vaccine trial using Telomerase antibodies, this trial is for brain tumors and sarcomas.
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Acta Neuropathol 100: 101-5. 1995 
Stockhammer G, Obwegeser A, Kostron H, Schumacher P, Muigg A, Felber S, Maier H, Slavc I, Gunsilius E, Gastl G (2000) 
<b>Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is elevated in brain tumor cysts and correlates with tumor progression. </b>



J Neurosurg 1990 Jan;72(1):102-9 
<b>Adoptive immunotherapy of intracerebral metastases in mice.</b>
McCutcheon IE, Baranco RA, Katz DA, Saris SC. 
Surgical Neurology Branch, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Bethesda, Maryland. 

<b>Lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) cells are a heterogeneous population of immune effector cells that nonspecifically destroy neoplastic cells but not normal cells. Although parenteral treatment with interleukin-2 (IL-2) alone or a combination of IL-2 and LAK cells reduces tumor load and prolongs survival in mice with pulmonary, peritoneal, or hepatic metastases, the effect of these treatments on brain metastases has not been studied.</b> ,,, intracardiac and intravenous injections of 10(5) KHT sarcoma cells were performed in C3H mice to create brain and lung metastases, respectively. The mice were treated with adoptive immunotherapy to determine if efficacy seen in an extracerebral site could be reproduced in the brain, ,,, Animals were treated with either parenteral IL-2 ,,, or IL-2 plus LAK cells ,,,or IL-2 excipient ,,, 

As compared to control animals, pulmonary metastases on Day 14 after tumor injection were reduced or eliminated in animals treated with either IL-2 or IL-2 plus LAK cells (p less than 0.01). In these same animals, there was no reduction in the number of intracerebral metastases and no evidence of lymphocytic infiltration or cytolytic activity in the brain. This is the first study that reveals an organ-specific resistance to the treatment of metastases with adoptive immunotherapy, and affirms the concern that due to inadequate trafficking of endogenous or exogenous-activated lymphocytes or due to inadequate activation of in situ brain lymphoid precursors, there is no rejection of tumors in the brain. This information suggests that brain metastases in patients with systemic malignancies will not respond to intravenous treatment with LAK cells and IL-2, and that alternative forms of treatment are needed. ,,, 
&&url PMID: 2294169 


Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2000 Jun 20;97(13):7567-72 
<b>Noninvasive gene targeting to the brain.</b>
Shi N, Pardridge WM. Department of Medicine, University of California School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1682, USA. 

<b>Gene therapy of the brain is hindered by the presence of the blood-brain barrier (BBB), which prevents the brain uptake of bloodborne gene formulations.</b>  Exogenous genes have been expressed in the brain after invasive routes of administration, such as craniotomy or intracarotid arterial infusion of noxious agents causing BBB disruption. The present studies describe the expression of an exogenous gene in brain after noninvasive i.v. administration of a 6- to 7-kb expression plasmid encoding either luciferase or beta-galactosidase packaged in the interior of neutral pegylated immunoliposomes. ,,, . In conclusion, widespread gene expression in the brain can be achieved by using a formulation that does not employ viruses or cationic liposomes, but instead uses endogenous receptor-mediated transport pathways at the BBB. 
&&url PMID: 10840060 
