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New therapeutic vaccine gives hope against super-aggressive triple-negative breast cancer
A new therapeutic vaccine offers new hope for women battling super aggressive triple-negative cancer. The vaccine teaches patients’ immune systems to recognize and attack cancer cells. About 16 of the 18 patients remained cancer-free three years after receiving the vaccine. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine now want larger clinical trials to prove the vaccine’s effectiveness. Read further to know in detail.
Triple-negative breast cancer is characterized by cancer cells that lack or have low levels of the estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2.
An experimental vaccine may be the best hope for women battling aggressive and difficult-to-treat breast cancer, a new study suggests. According to experts, these vaccines are safe and completely effective against triple-negative breast cancer – a type that cannot otherwise be treated with hormone therapy.
Triple-negative breast cancer is characterized by cancer cells that lack or have low levels of the estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2.
New vaccine kills cancer cells in immune system
However, in the latest trial of the vaccine, all patients remained cancer-free three years after receiving the vaccine — which killed any remaining cancer cells in their immune systems, according to results published Nov. 13 in the journal Medicine. genome medicine,
According to historical data, when comparing this vaccine to traditional surgery to treat breast cancer, usually only half of patients remain cancer-free after three years. “These results were better than we expected,” said Dr. William Gillanders, senior researcher and professor of surgery at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
How was the trial conducted?
Scientists said the vaccine’s initial clinical trial was conducted on 18 patients with triple-negative breast cancer that had not spread elsewhere in the body. According to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, about 10-15 percent of breast cancers in the United States are triple-negative.
To date, there is no targeted treatment for triple-negative breast cancer. It should be treated with conventional methods such as surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy, the researchers said in background notes.
Moreover, according to studies, it spreads faster than other types of breast cancer as the tumor grows by 1 percent every day. In comparison, HER2-positive breast cancer tumors grow 0.859 percent per day.
All patients in the trial received chemotherapy along with surgery to remove their breast tumors, the researchers said. The research team said they analyzed tumor tissue after surgery to find unique genetic mutations in the patients’ cancer cells. They then designed a personalized cancer vaccine for each patient based on those mutations.
The researchers said each patient was given three doses of the vaccine, which taught their immune systems to recognize key mutations in their specific breast tumors and attack the cancer cells. The results showed that 14 of 18 patients with triple-negative breast cancer developed an immune response to the vaccine.
“We are excited about the promise of these neo-antigen vaccines,” Gillanders said. “We hope to be able to bring more and more vaccine technologies of this type to our patients and help improve treatment outcomes in patients with aggressive cancers.”
However, researchers cautioned that larger clinical trials are needed to prove the vaccine’s effectiveness.
Gillanders said, “We acknowledge the limitations of this type of analysis, but we are pursuing this vaccine strategy and have ongoing randomized controlled trials that make direct comparisons between standard of care and the vaccine versus standard of care alone.” Are.” “We’re encouraged by what we’re seeing so far with these patients.”
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