Breast Cancer Vaccine

BCV

      

 A lady named Joan called me and she told me that all the ladies of the forum would like to know about the breat cancer vaccine at UAMS.

     We are expected to start clinical trials for our new vaccine in April 2009.  The vaccine is on target to help prevent the recurrence of breast cancer.  The vaccine was developed through a decade of studying how the immune system responds to disease.  The peptide-based vaccine is designed to make the body think it's dealing with a carbohydrate which in turn tricks the body into producing antibodies that fight breast cancer cells. The immune system then responds by producing antibodies that target both the peptides in the vaccine and the carbohydrates they resemble on the breast cancer cells.

               Dr. Laura Hutchins, director of the Division of Hematology and Oncology here at UAMS, is principal investigator for the clinical trial.  The first phase of the clinical trial will last four to six months. It will involve women with metastatic cancer only, who have relapsed after going into remission.  Women participating in the study will receive five doses of the vaccine at the cancer institute's medical oncology clinic. They will be immunized once a week for the first three weeks and again during the seventh and 19th weeks.  The first phase is to monitor any side effects of the vaccine.

We hope to begin the second phase of the clinical trial in January 2010. It will last a year and include women who have had breast cancer but are in remission and are considered at high risk of having it again.  The women will have to have been off chemotherapy for at least six months. The number of patients participating in each study has not been determined. The first two studies will be done in Arkansas, but future clinical trials may expand to include patients from other cancer centers around the country.

The vaccine won't replace traditional cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation. If you feel you fit the required description of a possible candidate for our trial, please contact us in April 2009.    Thank you for your interest in the vaccine.    To participate in the trial, you will need to be referred by your oncologist. The referral number is 501-296-1502, extension 1226.  Please do not call before April, 2009, since your clinical status must be assessed immediately prior to registration. We are grateful for your interest in this research.

Sincerely,

The Breast Team

breastcancer@uams.edu

http://www.acrc.uams.edu/