Key points in article:Early testing has shown it is capable of...

Key points in article:

Early testing has shown it is capable of adding up to four years to the lives of some women with advanced ovarian cancer, who otherwise would have had only months to live.

Dr Frazer said phase-one and phase-two trials of the CVac treatment had been promising.

Quality of life "brilliant" and no side-effects from the vaccine

Neil Frazer Hoping to emulate the near 100% effectiveness of his brother's (Ian Frazer)) cervical cancer vacine in his stage-three clinical trial, part of an international effort involving 800 women in 14 countries.

Ian Frazer is lending his expertise to his brother's project as chairman of the scientific advisory board of Prima BioMed.

CVac has been well tolerated and a few patients in the final stages of the disease, who were expected to live for only a few months, had survived for three or four years on the experimental drug. Hopeful of better outcomes in the phase-three trial, which will involve women recently diagnosed with stage three or four cancer.

Oncologist, Jeffrey Goh, has been impressed by how well seven of the ovarian cancer patients recruited at Greenslopes Private Hospital have fared on the phase-two trial and will be screening and enrolling more women in the phase-three trial from this month.

In the phase-two trial, Dr Goh and his team have administered up to 10 CVac treatments per patient over a 12-month period, with the aim of prolonging and maintaining patient remission.

Brisbane gynaecological oncologist Russell Land, who has several patients on the trial, said most women responded well to surgery and chemotherapy but relapses after a couple of years were a major problem for those diagnosed at advanced stages. CVac is given after chemo with the aim of extending remission for as long as possible.

Provided it works, this will be the tried and tested therapy we have needed.