More than 60 companies around the world are working on so-called therapeutic cancer vaccines, designed to help patients fight their tumors, but much of the research is “a shot in the dark,” according to a new report.

There are, at present, no effective therapeutic cancer vaccines on the market, despite many years of hard work.

Independent market analyst Datamonitor said on Thursday at least 64 firms were involved in clinical development, of which 80 percent were small biotechnology groups. However, many of their products are at a very early stage.

Unlike conventional vaccines, which are given to prevent infectious diseases such as flu, Rubella or measles, so-called therapeutic vaccines are tailored to prime the body’s immune system to attack tumors.

“However, translating the basic knowledge into clinical practice has proved difficult,” said Fleur Pijpers, Datamonitor’s oncology analyst.

Interest in vaccines as a weapon against cancer has been fueled recently by the success of two rival products from GlaxoSmithKline Plc and Merck & Co Inc.

Cervarix and Gardasil, which could reach the market in the next one to two years, have been hailed as breakthroughs in beating Cervical cancer.

But the two treatments are actually traditional vaccines in disguise, since they work by preventing the human papillomavirus (HPV) that leads to most cases of Cervical cancer, rather than fighting the cancer itself.

That is not to belittle their significance. Both products appear highly effective and are tipped by industry analysts to become multibillion-dollar sellers.

NO BLOCKBUSTERS

But therapeutic vaccines, which can help patients after they have been diagnosed with cancer, are proving much more elusive, and Pijpers does not have great commercial expectations for them out to 2014.

“Certainly no therapeutic vaccine is set to achieve blockbuster status, as it is likely to take some time before the concept is fully integrated into established clinical practice,” she said.

“It seems more time is going to pass by before we see cancer vaccines playing a significant role in cancer treatment.”

Even if they do prove their worth, therapeutic cancer vaccines are most likely to be used alongside conventional cancer treatments like chemotherapy, rather than replacing them, she added.

Recent clinical trial progress in the field has been mixed.

Earlier this month, a final stage Phase III trial of CancerVax Corp’s vaccine Canvaxin in patients with stage IV melanoma - skin cancer that has begun to spread around the body - was discontinued due to poor results.

A second study testing Canvaxin in stage III, or less-advanced, melanoma will continue, but the news was a setback for the U.S. group and its Swiss partner Serono SA.

Meanwhile, results with another advanced vaccine candidate, Dendreon Corp’s Provenge, suggested it may help Prostate cancer patients live longer, even though it failed to delay progression of their disease.