Groundbreaking experimental breast cancer vaccine passes first human trials

by Peter Schulte

Breast cancer is the fourth most deadly form of cancer worldwide, killing more than 700,000 people every year. However, new research from the University of Washington School of Medicine suggests that we are making progress on a safe and viable vaccine that can both prevent and treat aggressive forms of breast cancer.

The study began with a Phase 1 trial over 20 years ago, eventually enrolling over 60 women with advanced HER-2 breast cancer in order to test the safety of such treatments. However, the trial not only confirmed the treatment to be “very safe,” causing only flu-like symptoms at worst, but also found that after ten years 80% of patients were still alive. Typically, only roughly 50% of people in similar conditions would be expected to survive over that span. Though still preliminary, these results are incredibly promising.

A randomized-controlled Phase 2 trial testing the efficacy of the vaccine is already underway, with only a two-year follow-up time. If the Phase 2 trial is as successful as Phase 1, we may perhaps be only years away from a safe, effective, widely-available breast cancer vaccine for women and others around the world.