The results are in for a breast cancer vaccine developed by Nebraska researchers, and they just may bring hope to some victims fearing relapse.
The University of Nebraska Medical Center’s formula, deemed safe and effective after nearly 10 years of study, trains the patient’s immune system to hunt for and attack tumor cells.
Such cells naturally “hide” from the immune system’s antibodies, the warriors that fight foreign invaders such as viruses and bacteria.
UNMC’s vaccine theoretically marks breast cancer cells as foreign, inviting antibodies to “seek and destroy” them, said James Talmadge, a UNMC pathology and microbiology professor.
Tested on 24 women with Stage II and Stage III breast cancers, UNMC’s vaccine increased the number of immune cells battling the mutated P53 gene, present in more than 50 percent of tumors, said UNMC Eppley Cancer Center Director Ken Cowan.
And it didn’t cause any related side effects.
P53 normally shields all cells from DNA damage, but when it becomes mutated, it no longer fulfills its tumor-suppressing duties and instead speeds tumor growth.
The vaccine may seem simple in theory, but crafting it is an intricate process of manipulating the body’s smallest parts.
Unlike viruses, tumors don’t send strong “danger signals” to the immune system, meaning large armies of dendritic cells, those that find and present invaders to antibodies, are needed to find the cancer, Cowan said.
Researchers extracted many of the patient’s own dendritic cells, infused them with P53 and then injected the new-and-improved cells back into the woman’s body, where they went to work to destroy mutated genes.
Although cutting edge, UNMC’s work is not the first to address the recurrence of breast cancer. Other researchers with similar goals have manufactured vaccines to boost the immune system’s response to tumors.
However, UNMC was the first to use dendritic cells in a formula to thwart breast cancer. A similar study for lung cancer is underway at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Florida.
The work was also different because researchers were interested in finding the best time to administer the injection.
Chemotherapy and other cancer treatments are hard on the immune system. Talmadge and Cowan wanted to see if the vaccine could overcome the immunosuppressive effects of therapy and if giving the injection before, during or after therapy played a role in its success.
Although the research shows future promise to potentially prevent relapses, don’t expect a preventative flu- or cervical cancer-like vaccine any time soon.
Because most cancers are not caused by a virus, it’s tough to craft a one-size-fits-all preventative approach, Cowan said.
Instead, UNMC will continue its work with a follow-up study combining the vaccine and immune system-boosting medicines, Talmadge said.
In addition, larger tests that measure tumor shrinkage and lengthened survival are years down the road, he said.
But although getting a vaccine approved and on the shelves is laborious and expensive, he hasn’t completely ruled the possibility out.
teresalostroh@dailynebraskan.com
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