TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The early clinical trial on breast cancer vaccine developed at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis meets a new light. The vaccine is claimed safe in patients with metastatic breast cancer.
The research result published on the journal of Clinical Cancer Research shows that the vaccine works by causing body’s immune to home in on protein called mammaglobin-A, found almost exclusively in breast tissue.
"Being able to target mammaglobin is exciting because it is expressed broadly in up to 80 percent of breast cancers, but not at meaningful levels in other tissues," said breast cancer surgeon and senior author William E. Gillanders, MD, professor of surgery to Science Daily
"In theory, this means we could treat a large number of breast cancer patients with potentially fewer side effects.”
Although the preliminary trial was mainly aimed to assess the vaccine’s safety, the preliminary evidence indicated the vaccine slowed the cancer's progression, even in patients who tend to have less potent immune systems because of their advanced disease and exposure to chemotherapy.
Based on results of this study, Gillanders and his colleagues are planning a larger clinical trial to test the vaccine in newly diagnosed breast cancer patients, who, in theory, should have more robust immune systems than patients who already have undergone extensive cancer therapy.
SCIENCEDAILY | AMRI MAHBUB
