Katharina Buczek
After the first phase, researchers anticipate that a second trial will include “healthy, cancer-free women at high risk for developing breast cancer who have decided to undergo voluntary bilateral mastectomy to lower their risk.”
Vincent Tuohy, Ph.D., who invented the vaccine, said, “This vaccine approach represents a potential new way to control breast cancer.”
He also added that, “This vaccine strategy has the potential to be applied to other tumor types.” Other potential applications could include ovarian and endometrial cancer prevention.
The U.S. Department of Defense is currently funding the study.
It will include, “Eighteen to twenty-four patients who have already completed treatment for early-stage triple-negative breast cancer within the past three years and are currently tumor-free but at high risk for recurrence.”
Throughout the trial, patients will receive three vaccinations that are two weeks apart. The study’s anticipated completion date is September of 2022.
“If successful, these vaccines have the potential to transform the way we control adult-onset cancers and enhance life expectancy in a manner similar to the impact that the childhood vaccination program has had,” Tuohy said.
