Breast cancer: a promising new vaccine

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed neoplasm today, according to the AIRC. The danger lies in the late diagnosis, therefore becomes potentially serious if not identified and treated in time. This tumor is due to the uncontrolled multiplication of some cells of the gland transforming into malignant cells, they acquire the ability to break away from the tissue that generated them to invade surrounding cells and, over time, even more distant organs. In theory, all cells in the breast can cause cancer, but in most cases, the cancer starts at the breast glandular cells (of the lobes) or of those which form the walls of the ducts. As the AIRC website reports, if theincidence (number of new cases) is growing slightly, especially in younger women, the mortality is decreasing (a reduction of 6 percent in 2020 compared to 2015), although this disease remains the leading cause of cancer death in women.

Standard care protocol

The choice of therapeutic path depends on several factors, including the patient’s condition, the molecular and diffusion characteristics of the disease, and many more. In general, most women with breast cancer undergo one surgery to remove diseased tissue. If possible, use the conservative operationor surgical procedures that aim to “save” the breast, by removing only the part where the lesion (quadrantectomy). Sometimes it is necessary to remove more than one quadrant of the breast: in this case we speak of lumpectomy or total depending on the amount of tissue removed during surgery. Over there radiotherapy adjuvant (performed after surgery) is used to protect the remaining mammary gland both from the risk of local recurrence and from the appearance of a new neoplasm. UNTIL many patients are offered therapy cancer drugsas the chemotherapy, hormonal therapies or drug treatments that target specific molecular targets. Over there chemotherapy it is useful, but not always necessary, and is prescribed after a personal assessment of the characteristics of each case.

New vaccine, new treatment

An experimental study spanning more than 20 years, testing the vaccine designed to target the neoplastic cells of breast cancer. The research group, promoter of the innovative therapy, has been working for years on vaccines that can instruct the immune system to target HER2-positive tumor cells. This type of vaccine is not designed to prevent and/or prevent tumors, but has a therapeutic function. Experimental vaccines are therefore intended for administration to patients after the diagnosis as an aid to the immune system to destroy certain cancer cells. AMA Oncology reports the study results.

The phase 1 study began 20 years ago and investigated 66 patients of both sexes with HER2-positive advanced breast cancer and a mean age of 51 years (range 34-77 years). 3 different dose levels were tested with the main purpose of evaluating the safety of the vaccine. The results show that the vaccine is very safe, the most common side effects are very similar to those of the Covid-19 vaccine, namely: redness and swelling at the injection site, fever and flu symptoms. So the new therapy has passed phase 1 (testing in humans) and is moving to phase 2 for testing the effectiveness. This trial has recently started and has a follow-up period of 2 years. If the results of the new study are positive, we can move quickly to a definitive phase 3 study. It is important to underline the therapeutic avant-garde of this vaccine: it potentially represents an effective remedy that would have as a side effect something much lighter than surgery and/or chemotherapy and radiotherapy sessions.