Breast cancer: the offensive continues
American scientists are developing a new vaccine against breast cancer
Specialists from the St. Louis Medical School of Washington University conducted the first stage of clinical trials of a vaccine against metastatic breast cancer, reports Infox.ru . Studies have shown the safety and effectiveness of the drug.
As the authors explain, this vaccine adjusts the work of the body's immune system in such a way that it begins to recognize and destroy mammoglobin-A protein, the expression of which is observed in breast tumors. As a result, the development of the tumor stops.
The role of mammoglobin in healthy breast tissues is not entirely clear, but with breast cancer, its amount increases markedly.
"Learning to act on mammoglobin is a great achievement, because it is formed in 80% of breast cancers, but almost does not occur in other tissues," says lead author of the study, Dr. William E. Gillanders.
Photo: Robert Boston, from the WU School of Medicine Breast cancer vaccine press release shows promise in small clinical trial – VM.
However, mammoglobin is not formed in a small number of patients, so, unfortunately, the vaccine will not have an effect on this group, the scientist adds.
The first phase of clinical trials of the new vaccine involved 14 patients with metastatic breast cancer. According to the study, the new vaccine slowed down the spread of cancer cells, and even in patients with weakened immune systems after a course of chemotherapy. Doctors did not observe any serious side effects. Thus, within the framework of this study, scientists say, the vaccine has shown its safety and effectiveness.
"Even though the immune system of these women was severely weakened, we observed the biological effect that the vaccine had on immune cells in blood samples. This is very encouraging. We also observed a slowdown in the progression of the disease," says Gillanders.
Of the 14 patients who received the new vaccine, half did not have cancer progression after a year. But in the control group of 12 patients who were not vaccinated, only two patients did not develop a cancerous tumor.
Using the data obtained, Gillanders and his colleagues plan to continue testing this vaccine and conduct studies for more patients, as well as for women at the very initial stage of the disease.
"If we give the vaccine to women in the very initial stage of the disease, when their immune system is strong enough, a stronger response can be expected from the drug. We also plan to investigate the immune response itself in more detail. Now that we have evidence that the vaccine is safe, we can see how it will act on patients at an early stage of the disease. Perhaps this will give us new ideas on how to improve therapy," says Gillanders.
An article about the new vaccine was published in the latest issue of the journal Clinical Cancer Research (Tiriveedhi et al., Safety and Preliminary Evidence of the Biological Efficacy of a Mammaglobin-A DNA Vaccine in Patients with Stable Metastatic Breast Cancer).
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru01.12.2014