Researchers at the Cleveland Clinic have begun clinical testing of a novel vaccine that targets a milk protein to prevent triple-negative breast cancer.  

TNBC is the most deadly and aggressive subtype of breast cancer. Nearly 25% of patients die within the first five years. Since patients with triple-negative breast cancer cannot take hormonal targeted therapies, there is a need for new treatment development. 

MD /alert spoke with Dr. G. Thomas Budd, medical oncologist at Cleveland Clinic and primary investigator of this clinical trial. Dr. Budd hopes the trial will soon move from studying the vaccine in patients with triple-negative breast cancer at risk for recurrence, to studying the vaccine’s use in high-risk patients.  

The vaccine targets the milk protein alpha-lactalbumin. This protein, while only typically present in lactating women, is present in 70% to 80% of triple-negative breast cancers. 

The goal of the vaccine is to stimulate the immune system to attack the cells that make the alpha-lactalbumin protein so it cannot go on to be the cause of triple-negative breast cancer tumors. 

“The next step is to study women with BRCA1 or other genetic mutations predisposing them to triple-negative breast cancer, who are planning to undergo bilateral prophylactic mastectomy, we would vaccinate these patients preoperatively and examine their breasts for any evidence of inflammation that could be due to what’s called lactational foci and also other side effects and immune response. Ultimately, we hope to do a randomized trial and demonstrate that we reduce the risk of developing breast cancer in this group of genetically high-risk patients,” G. Thomas Budd, MD, medical oncologist at Cleveland Clinic, said in the interview.

While this research has the potential to drastically change the lives of patients with triple-negative breast cancer—and those at high risk for the disease—he said there are also some far-reaching potential applications. 

“I think the overall approach of identifying a so-called retired protein and developing a vaccine against that protein may be able to be extended to other diseases to other cancers as well,” Budd concluded.


Disclosures: Budd did not declare any financial ties to drugmakers. 
Reference: https://health.clevelandclinic.org/breast-cancer-vaccine-trial/ 
Images: Getty Images, Pixabay 

By MD /alert Staff