Genome Medicine: Experimental vaccine shows promising results in triple-negative breast cancer treatment, new research suggests

An experimental vaccine could offer fresh hope to women diagnosed with an aggressive and hard-to-treat form of breast cancer, new research suggests, reports MedicalXpress.

The vaccine appears to be safe and effective against triple-negative breast cancer—a type that can't be treated with hormone therapy because it isn't driven by any of the three hormones that typically fuel breast cancer.

Sixteen of 18 patients remained cancer-free three years after receiving the vaccine, which taught their immune systems to kill off any remaining cancer cells, according to results published in the journal Genome Medicine..

By comparison, only half of patients who receive surgery alone remain cancer-free after three years, according to historical data.

The early clinical trial involved 18 patients with triple-negative breast cancer that hadn't spread elsewhere in the body.

About 10% to 15% of the breast cancers that occur in the United States are triple-negative, according to the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

To date, triple-negative breast cancer has no targeted therapies. It must be treated with traditional approaches like surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy, researchers said in background notes.

The trial patients all had undergone chemotherapy, followed by surgery to remove their breast tumors, researchers said.

The research team analyzed the tumor tissue following surgery to find unique genetic mutations in the patients' cancer cells. They then crafted a personalized cancer vaccine for each patient, based on those mutations.

Each patient received three doses of the vaccine, which taught their immune systems to recognize the key mutations in their specific breast tumors and attack the cancer cells, the researchers said.

Results showed that 14 out of the 18 patients with triple-negative breast cancer developed an immune response to the vaccine.