The study, published in Clinical Cancer Research, also suggests the vaccine primes patients' white blood cells to attack tumor cells, slowing down the progression of the cancer.
The new vaccine works by targeting a protein called mammaglobin-A that
is predominantly found in breast tissue. Its role in healthy tissue is
currently unknown, but previous research has shown that breast tumor
cells express the protein at abnormally high levels.
"Being able to target mammaglobin is exciting because it is expressed broadly in up to 80% of breast cancers,
but not at meaningful levels in other tissues," says senior author Dr.
William Gillanders. "In theory, this means we could treat a large number
of breast cancer patients with potentially fewer side effects."
Many pre-existing drug treatments for breast cancer target another
protein called human growth factor receptor 2 (HER2). These treatments,
including trastuzumab and pertuzumab, can have side effects that include
diarrhea and heart problems.
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