Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, N.J., is now offering patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) (brain tumor) the opportunity to take part in a clinical trial that produces and uses a vaccine produced from patients' own tissue.

The phase II trial, headed by principal investigator and researcher Anthony D'Ambrosio, M.D., director of Valley's neuro-oncology disease management team, is designed to evaluate safety, survival and immune response in patients treated with a heat shock protein peptide-complex vaccine (HSPPC-96) derived from each patient's specific tumor cells.

"Heat shock proteins are believed to play an essential role in helping the immune system to recognize and eradicate diseased cells," said D'Ambrosio.

The Glioblastoma Vaccine study is sponsored by the University of California, San Francisco, and is currently available in limited locations across the country. The study is currently searching for participants who are newly diagnosed, over age 18 and whose tumors have not been excised.