Hope for a breast cancer vaccine?
Meet the Experts
Jennifer Griggs, M.D., M.P.H. is a medical oncologist specializing in the treatment of breast cancer, dedicated to developing programs that improve the well-being of women treated for breast cancer.
Question from Terry: I saw a Discovery Health Channel show a year ago where a woman neurosurgeon was removing brain tumors and her husband, a neuroscientist, was creating a vaccine from the tumor cells and injecting this back into the patient to prevent redevelopment. I think it was probably a experimental program and they were both at UCLA. Is anything like this in the works for breast cancer?
- Answer —Jennifer Griggs, M.D., M.P.H.:
Vaccines for breast cancer have intrigued scientists and patients alike for decades. At this point, vaccines seem to be able to evoke an antibody in the patient; in other words, the patient is given the tumor and they develop antibodies to the tumor in some cases. At this point, however, we don't have any studies showing that this translates into a response to treatment. So an effective vaccine can be effective in getting a body to respond by creating antibodies, but we have yet to see this translate into anti-cancer activity of those antibodies. This is a very hot area of research, however, and if we get smarter in understanding breast cancer biologies, I wouldn't rule out an effective vaccine offhand.
On December 19, 2007, our Ask-the-Expert Online Conference was called Updates from San Antonio 2007. Jennifer Griggs, M.D., M.P.H. answered your questions and shared the newest research presented at this year's San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
The materials presented in these conferences do not necessarily reflect the views of breastcancer.org. A qualified healthcare professional should be consulted before using any therapeutic product or regimen discussed. All readers should verify all information and data before employing any therapies described here.
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