Syringe and vaccine

Breast cancer vaccine shows promise in early trial

Results of a decades-long phase I trial indicate an experimental vaccine could be effective in treating different kinds of breast cancer.

By Gianna Melillo, The Hill

An experimental breast cancer vaccine has been shown to safely generate anti-tumor immunity in patients with advanced stages of the disease.

Data from the phase I trial indicate the vaccine could one day be used to treat different kinds of breast cancer.

The trial was conducted by researchers at the University of Washington School of Medicine and findings were published in JAMA Oncology.

“Because this was not a randomized clinical trial, the results should be considered preliminary, but the findings are promising enough that the vaccine will now be evaluated in a larger, randomized clinical trial,” said lead investigator Mary L. Disis, a professor of medicine at the University of Washington and director of the Cancer Vaccine Institute, in a statement.

Around 42,000 women die of breast cancer each year in the United States, according to the CDC, while around 264,000 cases are diagnosed in women annually. Read more …