NEW YORK (AP) — Can a tetanus shot help treat brain cancer? A small study hints that it might.

Patients lived longer if they got a dose of tetanus vaccine in addition to an experimental treatment for the most common and deadly kind of brain tumor.

The treatment was aimed at making the immune system attack the cancer, and the tetanus shot apparently helped that process.

The study, which included 12 patients with a cancer called glioblastoma (GLEE-oh-bla-STO-mah), is described in a report released Wednesday by the journal Nature. A bigger, follow-up study is planned.

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