"The goal of the Phase I study, which is expected to conclude in 2015, is to assess the safety of the vaccine in humans." This is a fairly written press releas

"The goal of the Phase I study, which is expected to conclude in 2015, is to assess the safety of the vaccine in humans." This is a fairly written press release, which besides the hopeful language common to any university press release about science research[1] manages to mention how preliminary this research still is. Many treatments that show promise in animal models do not ultimately have clinical usefulness for human patients. It would be wonderful if this approach to treating cancer is shown to be safe for human beings, which is the issue explored in a phase I clinical trial. Then further research will have to explore whether or not this approach is effective in human patients--which is not a sure thing even if it is effective in mice. After that, doctors will have to evaluate the treatment's overall safety and effectiveness compared to all other treatments available by the unknown future date when some new treatment reaches clinical use. There will also be the issue, of course, that two kinds of treatment may have similar safety and effectiveness profiles but differ radically in cost. All in all, good news at the first step, with a lot more to be found out before we know whether this will help us dodge the bullet of cancer in our own lifetimes. [1] http://www.phdcomics.com/comics.php?f=1174 http://www.phdcomics.com/comics.php?f=1174