I'm sure you've heard all the legends about cancer vaccines.
A few days ago, some sisters shared an exciting news with Mutual Aid Jun.
In 2018, Jennifer Davis, who was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer, was still at high risk of recurrence after a series of treatments.
In October 2021, she participated in a Phase 1a clinical trial of an FDA-approved breast cancer vaccine, becoming one of the first patients to receive the vaccine. Jennifer and the other participants received a total of three doses of the vaccine, which she completed in November of the same year.
As of today, Jennifer has successfully survived cancer-free for more than 5 years.
This is undoubtedly good news, but calm down, Mutual Aid Jun also consulted other more information, and there are a few points I want to tell you:
1. This is just a case of clinical trials, we can have expectations, but we still need to be more rational.
2. In February 2023, the Cleveland Clinic initiated the next step of clinical research on the vaccine with a Phase 1b clinical trial. This phase is mainly aimed at patients who do not have triple-negative breast cancer but are at high risk of developing cancer.
With this topic, we will also popularize science for sisters who are not familiar with vaccines, and by the way, take stock of the recent vaccines.
01 What exactly is a cancer vaccine?
First, there is no vaccine that can prevent all cancers. Maybe one day, with the advancement of medicine, such a vaccine will appear, and Mutual Aid Jun also has the same expectations as everyone else.
Depending on the specific use of cancer vaccines, we can divide them into preventive vaccines and therapeutic vaccines.
Prophylactic vaccines
The HPV vaccine used to prevent cervical cancer is one of them, which is mainly used in healthy people who have a certain risk of developing the disease to prevent and control the occurrence of cancer.
Therapeutic vaccines
Based on tumor antigens, it is mainly used for the adjuvant treatment of cancer patients after chemotherapy, including mRNA vaccines, DNA vaccines, dendritic cell (DC) vaccines, peptide vaccines, nano vaccines, cell vaccines, etc.
According to the information that is known so far, it is likely that the cancer vaccine mentioned by Putin is a therapeutic vaccine.
As early as 2010, the FDA approved the sipuleucel-T vaccine for the treatment of advanced prostate cancer, and the market price is said to be $475,000. But according to its phase III clinical trial, it only improved median survival by 4.1 months compared to placebo. At present, the vaccine is in phase III registration clinical trials in China.
Next, Mutual Aid Jun also gave you an inventory of some cancer vaccine news for breast cancer that has been disclosed so far.
02 These cancer vaccines, breast cancer can be concerned
α-lactalbumin vaccine
To understand this vaccine, let's first take a look at what α-lactalbumin is sacred. In fact, it is a breast cancer-specific differentiation protein that is only found in healthy women during the third trimester of pregnancy and lactation, and reappears in the body when breast cancer occurs.
Researchers have designed a vaccine based on the properties of α-lactalbumin, which causes the immune system to destroy cancer cells and stop cancer from occurring.
Data from the phase I trial of this vaccine at the AACR Congress showed that different levels of antigen-specific T cell responses were observed at all dose levels in vaccinated women tested to date.
GP2 vaccine
It is currently used in postoperative patients with HER2-mutated breast cancer. Most impressively, at the 2020 San Antonio Breast Cancer Event, GP2's latest five-year clinical trial efficacy analysis data showed that this therapy can trigger a "strong response", resulting in a record 100% five-year disease-free survival (DFS) for HER2 3+-positive breast cancer patients after surgery, reducing the recurrence rate to 0%.
At present, the vaccine is still in clinical trial III, and Huzhujun is looking forward to the latest trial data like everyone.
AE37 vaccine
AE37, like GP2, is a polypeptide tumor vaccine, and they are both HER2/neu-derived short peptide vaccines. HER2/neu is a cell surface receptor protein commonly expressed in HER2-positive breast cancer and a variety of other common malignancies.
In April 2020, Springer Nature's Breast Cancer Res Treat magazine published data from a study of GP2 and AE37 vaccines, with a total of 456 patients participating in the study. The results showed that the GP2 and AE37 tumor vaccines were able to improve disease-free survival and were safe.
VRP-HER2疫苗
Duke University is developing a vaccine called VRP-HER2 that uses a neutral viral vector to carry genetic information against the HER2 protein. When the vaccine enters the body, it targets the HER2 protein in cancer cells, inducing the immune system to attack tumor cells.
The vaccine is currently in Phase II clinical trials in patients with advanced HER2+.
NeuVax疫苗
The vaccine is a peptide-based cancer immunotherapy that elicits a robust anti-HER2 immune response. It can not only improve the overall survival rate of patients with HER-2-positive breast cancer, but also is well tolerated with mild adverse reactions.
HER-2 pulsed DC1 vaccine
Moffitt Cancer Research Center has initiated a clinical trial of the safety and immunogenicity of a HER-2 pulsed DC1 vaccine in high-risk HER-2 high- and moderate-expressing breast cancer patients, which could be used to prevent breast cancer recurrence if the trial goes well
03 The vaccine has not yet been available, so reduce recurrence
01 Do a good job of standardized treatment and review
Recurrence caused by the type of breast cancer: Triple negative breast cancer, HER2 overexpressing breast cancer, axillary lymph node positive, and patients with large tumor volume and number are prone to recurrence at the first peak.
The key factor for the recurrence of early breast cancer is the biological characteristics of the tumor itself, and the recurrence of local tumor is the key factor affecting the effect of later surgical treatment. Hormone-dependent breast cancer patients tend to recur during the second peak period.
02 Avoid these environments
Long years of indoor insecticide use, long exposure to organic solvents, long exposure to pesticides, environmental pollution in residential areas, long years of passive smoking, and the frequency of radiation examinations are risk factors for the incidence of breast cancer.
03 Eat a healthy diet and exercise moderately
The patient's postoperative diet should be nutritious, diversified and balanced. You can eat more vegetables, fruits, soy products, eggs, lean meat, etc. Fried, smoked, pickled foods, tobacco and alcohol, and indigestible foods should not be eaten. In addition, the food can also be steamed, boiled and stewed.
04 Manage your emotions
Depression and negativity are not only detrimental to the body, but also have a negative impact on the prognosis of breast cancer, increasing the risk of death, and the drugs taken can also have counterproductive effects on the body.
Therefore, when you feel low, you can try to relieve it by taking deep breaths, listening to music, talking to relatives and friends, etc. If you find yourself unable to adjust, it is a good idea to consult a psychologist in a timely manner.
Warm reminder: This article is based on the sharing of disease science and cannot replace hospital treatment. The opinions are for reference only, please follow the doctor's advice for specific treatment.
Cover image source: photo.com
Editor in charge: Mijian Mutual Aid Jun
Resources:
[1]https://www.onclive.com/view/neoadjuvant-dendritic-cell-vaccine-based-regimen-elicits-pcrs-in-early-stage-her2-breast-cancer
[2] Han HS, Costa RL, Soliman HH, et al. Phase I study of adoptive T cell therapy following HER2-pulsed dendritic cell vaccine and pepinemab/trastuzumab in patients with metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer (MBC). J Clin Oncol. 2023; 41(suppl 16):TPS1113. doi:10.1200/JCO.2023.41.16_suppl. TPS1113.
[3] Lowenfeld L, Mick R, Datta J, et al. Dendritic cell vaccination enhances immune responses and induces regression of HER2pos DCIS independent of route: results of randomized selection design trial. Clin Cancer Res. 2017; 23(12):2961–2971. doi:10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-16-1924.
[4] Patnaik A, Weiss, GJ, Leonard JE, et al. Safety, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics of a humanized anti-semaphorin 4D antibody, in a first-in-human study of patients with advanced solid tumors. Clin Cancer Res. 2016; 22(4):827–836. doi:10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-15-0431.
[5]https://www.onclive.com/view/pepinemab-trastuzumab-with-dendritic-cell-vaccine-and-adoptive-t-cell-therapy-under-evaluation-in-her2-breast-cancer.