Charlie Harb, 48, has stage 4 lung cancer, which is a tough disease to beat. So, after chemotherapy helped stabilize the tumor, he entered a study of a new vaccine, hoping to stop the tumor from growing again.

"So far so good; I guess we'll find out in two months from the scans if everything is stable or shrinking, then we'll continue with the vaccine," said Harb.

The vaccine is made of lung cancer cells that are modified so they no longer produce a protein that they use to blindfold the immune system.

"The reason you develop lung cancer, or cancer in general, is because your immune system failed to recognize that cancer. So we need to change it. We need to re-teach the immune system to do its job," said Dr. Lyudmila Bazhenova, the principal investigator.

Doctors at the University of California - San Diego treated the first patient with the new therapy, which is in its final testing phase.

"The drug already passed phase 1 and phase 2 investigations and now they're moving it into the phase 3 to get an absolute final proof of its efficacy," said Bazhenova.

The findings up to now show patients who receive the vaccine, called Lucanix, live longer than patients who receive a placebo. Side effects include pain and redness at the injection site, which is no big deal to patients like Harb.

"Compared to the side effects of the chemotherapy and the infusions and the treatments and so on, it's very hopeful," he said.

He hopes the new treatment will give him more time with his young family. The vaccine is designed to treat non-small cell lung cancer.

Researchers are still recruiting patients nationwide. For study sites and to see if you qualify, visit www.clinicaltrials.govand put nct00676507 in the search box.