Medical Discovery News
Science permeates everyday life. Yet the understanding of advances in biomedical science is limited at best. Few people make the connection that biomedical science is medicine and that biomedical scientists are working today for the medicine of tomorrow. Our weekly five-hundred-word newspaper column (http://www.illuminascicom.com/) and two-minute radio show provide insights into a broad range of biomedical science topics. Medical Discovery News is dedicated to explaining discoveries in biomedical research and their promise for the future of medicine. Each release is designed to stimulate listeners to think, question and appreciate how science affects their health as well as that of the rest of the world. We also delve into significant biomedical discoveries and portray how science (or the lack of it) has impacted health throughout history.
Medical Discovery News
A Vaccine for Breast Cancer
954 A Vaccine For Breast Cance
Welcome to Medical Discovery News. I’m Dr Norbert Herzog.
And I’m Dr. David Niesel
Recently developed personalized breast cancer treatments have dramatically improved survival rates. But there’s a group of aggressive breast tumors that don’t respond to these therapies.
They’re called triple-negative breast cancers and fail to respond to the usual hormonal cancer therapies. So, patients are left with conventional treatments such as surgery, chemotherapy and radiation.
Triple-negative breast cancer makes up fifteen percent of all breast cancers and is among the most aggressive. However, a new vaccine could change the outlook for these women and it’s based on neoantigen DNA.
Cancer neoantigens are tumor cell proteins recognized and targeted by our immune system. These DNA vaccines recognize the patient’s uniquely mutated proteins and prompt the immune system to attack.
A clinical trial enrolled eighteen women with Stage one cancer and had chemotherapy and surgery to remove the tumor. Tissues from the tumor and new software tools identified the mutation.
Then a personalized DNA cancer vaccine was made for each patient which helped her immune system to “target” her cancer cells.
After three doses, three-quarters of the women developed an immune response and nearly all remained cancer-free after three years compared to historical controls where only half the patients remained cancer-free in that time.
If the safety study works out, this vaccine could be life-changing for women with these aggressive cancers.
We are Drs. David Niesel and Norbert Herzog, at UTMB and Quinnipiac University, where biomedical discoveries shape the future of medicine. For much more and our disclaimer go to medicaldiscoverynews.comor subscribe to our podcast. Sign up for expanded print episodes at www.illuminascicom.com
