Is there a Vaccine in our Future?

About a year ago, news was made when a vaccine for cervical cancer was put on the market. Controversial in many ways, including the notion that young girls were the ideal targets for the vaccine, it was the first time that a vaccine was marketed to prevent a risk factor for cancer.

Well, a trial of a vaccine to prevent one of the most aggressive forms of breast cancer is underway at M.D. Anderson in Houston, Walter Reed in Washington, DC (the trial organizer), Wake Forest University and several other cancer centers. Its focus is to stimulate the body against the HER2\neu protein and the effectiveness of the vaccine will be compared to the effectiveness of an FDA-approved drug that stimulates bone marrow to make new blood cells. Prior trials of the vaccine had positive results, reducing recurrence rates by 33%.

Trial participants are women with HER2/neu positive breast cancer who also have a high risk for recurrence. Up to six doses of the vaccine will be administered over an 18-month period.

This is just the kind of innovative new research that will get us closer to a cure. Can you imagine, a vaccine for breast cancer that eliminates the risk altogether? This is a development that we watch and report on as new information is released.

If such a vaccine were available and approved by the FDA, would you encourage your daughter or sister or friend to get it?