New Vaccine Could Prevent Future Cases of Breast Cancer

A new vaccine developed by Rice University's Vincent Tuohy may have the potential to prevent breast cancer in humans.

By Kathryn Hawkins. Posted on June 02 2010

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women after skin cancer, affecting nearly one in every eight women worldwide. Chances are, you know someone who’s battled the disease—or maybe you’re even a breast cancer survivor yourself.

This year, the American Cancer Society estimates that close to 200,000 patients will be newly diagnosed with breast cancer. But what if we could bring that number down—way down—to zero?

That’s the hope of a new vaccine developed by a team of researchers at Cleveland Clinic’s Lerner Research Institute. In trials on mice, they discovered that an injection of an antigen, a-lactalbumin, could prevent breast cancer tumors from forming, as well as stopping the growth of new tumors in mice with already existing breast cancer.

“We believe this vaccine will someday be used to prevent breast cancer in adult women in the same way that vaccines prevent polio and measles in children,” lead researcher Vincent Tuohy, Ph.D, told WOIO.

Scientists have been struggling for centuries to cure cancer, but because cancerous tumors are over-developments of the body’s own cells, it’s impossible to target the cells directly. Instead, the vaccine targets the a-lactalbumin protein, which is typically found in women with breast cancer and not found in healthy women, except those who are breastfeeding.

The vaccine hasn’t been trialed on humans, but Dr. Tuohy holds high hopes for his treatment.

“If it works in humans the way it works in mice, this will be monumental,” he said. “We could eliminate breast cancer.”

Filed under: Health and Wellbeing, Science,

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