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This article is from the WebMD News Archive
Breast Cancer Vaccine Shows Promise
Oct. 28, 2003 -- Early study findings suggest a breast cancer vaccine may be able to stimulate the immune system to prevent breast cancer from coming back.
The vaccine targets a protein fragment called E75, which is present in one-third of women with breast cancer. E75 is a growth factor that acts like a fertilizer to many cancers, senior researcher Craig Shriver, MD, FACS, says in a news release.
"In our study, most, but not all, patients responded well to this treatment," senior researcher Craig Shriver, MD, FACS, tells WebMD. He is director of the Clinical Breast Care Project at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. Researchers presented their findings at the annual meeting of the American College of Surgeons.
The researchers started with 34 women with breast cancer that had spread to the lymph nodes. Each woman underwent breast cancer treatment with surgery, radiation therapy, or chemotherapy. After treatment, the women had no evidence of any breast cancer.
This group of women has a higher risk of breast cancer recurrence since their cancer had spread to the lymph nodes. They wanted to see if the breast cancer vaccine could help prevent the breast cancer from coming back.
The breast cancer vaccine was given in six monthly injections to 14 women that had evidence of the E75 protein fragment on their breast cancer cells that were removed from their bodies. In addition, each woman was given an immune system stimulant to increase the number of immune system cells that help fight cancer and infection.
Of the 14 women who received the breast cancer vaccine, 12 generated an immune system response against E75. This effect persisted even after the breast cancer vaccine injections were stopped.
These 12 women had no breast cancer recurrences during average follow-up of 18 months. Typically, about 30% to 40% of women with breast cancer in their lymph nodes before treatment have a recurrence within five years.
The two women who received the breast cancer vaccine but did not have lasting immune system responses had recurrences of their breast cancer. However, their breast cancer appeared later than in other women.
Recurrences in the two breast cancer vaccine recipients occurred at around 10 months. The three women in the group that did not receive the vaccine had a recurrence of their breast cancer around six months. More research is needed with longer follow-up of the women to determine if the breast cancer vaccine is able to keep the breast cancer away longer than in women who don't receive the vaccine.
Based on these encouraging results from our first study in women with cancer in the lymph nodes, we are now involved in a breast vaccine trial in women whose breast cancer has not spread to the nodes, Shriver says.
With reporting by Laurie Barclay, MD.
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October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and a new study reveals why a high number of women with the disease still prefer to have the entire breast surgically removed instead of just the tumor. It's not always because doctors recommend it.
