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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (Local CBS) – A definitive cure for cancer has remained elusive despite years of steady progress in treatment.
A team of Mayo Clinic researchers from the Florida campus is currently studying a new cancer vaccine that would help the body resist the return of an aggressive form of breast cancer.
The vaccine would be used in combination with trastuzumab, an immunostimulatory drug given to women after surgery to remove a HER2 tumor.
HER2-positive breast cancer is a test-positive breast cancer for a protein called Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 (HER2), which promotes the growth of cancer cells. In about one in five breast cancer, cancer cells have a gene mutation that causes an excess of the HER2 protein.
If it works, researchers say that the vaccine would respond to the return of cancer, which can be difficult to treat once it has spread to other parts of the body.
Trastuzumab works by activating the B cells of the immune system, which seek out and attack breast tumor cells with HER2 proteins on the surface.
The new vaccine stimulates another group of immune system cells, long-lasting T cells that "remember" proteins and promote resistance to recurrence of the disease.
"The vaccine is a prevention strategy aimed at discouraging the reformation of cancer," says Dr. Keith Knutson, immunologist at Mayo Clinic, who is the principal investigator of the study. "T cells and B cells of the body are synergistic for a strong and lasting immune response."
Future research will determine the effectiveness of the HER2 breast cancer recurrence vaccine.
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