Clinical Trials Of Experimental Breast Cancer Vaccine Expected To Begin In Spring

Main Category: Breast Cancer
Also Included In: Clinical Trials / Drug Trials;  Immune System / Vaccines
Article Date: 07 Jan 2009 - 2:00 PST

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Scientists from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences this spring expect to begin the first of two phases of clinical trials for a vaccine designed to prevent the recurrence of breast cancer, the AP/FoxNews.com reports. Principal investigator Laura Hutchins -- professor of internal medicine and director of the division of hematology and oncology at the university -- said that the vaccine, if successful, would not replace chemotherapy and radiation but could be an additional treatment for women with breast cancer. While working under a six-year, $2.9 million grant from the Department of Defense, a team from the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute at UAMS developed peptide antigens that mimic the carbohydrate antigens present on breast cancer cells. Although carbohydrate antigens do not typically stimulate a strong immune system response, the peptide-based vaccine is able to trick the body into producing antibodies that attack both the peptide antigens and carbohydrate antigens on the cancer cells, according to the AP/FoxNews.com.

The first phase of the clinical trials will involve women who have breast cancer that is actively spreading and women who had a recurrence after remission. Participants will receive five doses of the vaccine over four to six months. The second phase, which will last about one year, will involve women who are in remission, considered at high risk for a recurrence and have been off chemotherapy for at least six months. The number of women who will participate in the trials has not been determined. According to the latest data from CDC, 40,954 women died of breast cancer in the U.S. in 2004 (AP/FoxNews.com, 1/5).

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