Telegraph UK
All women over 40 could be given a jab that prevents them getting breast cancer, a scientist has claimed.
The drug, which goes on trial within a year, has been shown to stop tumours ever appearing and also to attack those that are already present.
If successful, researchers say GPs could offer it to women before they reach their mid-40s, when the risk of breast cancer starts to rise steeply.
The drug could wipe out up to 70 per cent of breast cancers, saving more than 8,000 lives a year in Britain alone.
Dr Vincent Tuohy, the jab's creator, said it promised to offer "substantial protection" and raised the prospect of wiping out the disease altogether.
"We truly believe that a preventive breast cancer vaccine will do to breast cancer what the polio vaccine has done to polio," he said.
"We think it will provide substantial protection."Our view is that breast cancer is a completely preventable disease."
The vaccine is based on protein called alpha-lactalbumin that lurks in most breast cancer tumours.
In tests on mice bred to develop breast cancers by the age of 10 months, the drug was found to keep them free of tumours, the journal Nature Medicine reports.
The jab stimulates the immune system, priming it to destroy alpha-lactalbumin as it appears, and so stopping tumours from forming.
The drug also harnessed the power of the immune system to shrink pre-existing tumours by up to half, suggesting it could be used as a treatment as well as a vaccine.
Effective cancer vaccines have proved notoriously difficult to make, not least because tumour cells are strikingly similar to healthy tissues.
A poorly-designed cancer vaccine could easily turn the immune system against other parts of the body and cause more harm than good, while another problem is that many cancers weaken the immune system as they grow.
But as the protein targeted by the new drug is only found in healthy breasts when they are producing milk, the jab should specifically target diseased cells, leaving other tissue untouched.
Dr Tuohy, of the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, said: "Tumours are like drunks in a bar, saying and doing things they shouldn't and one of these things is expressing (making) alpha-lactalbumin and we are taking advantage of that."
Finding similar proteins for other cancers, such as bowel or prostate tumours, could lead to vaccines against other diseases.
Dr Tuohy hopes the test the jab on women for the first time next year.
One trial would look at its ability to shrink tumours in women with advanced breast cancer and few other treatment options.
Another would involve young women whose family history puts them at high risk of the disease.
The trials would focus on how safe the jab is and what sort of doses should be given.
The need for longer studies on bigger numbers of women mean it will be at least 10 years before the jab hits the market.
Dr Caitlin Palframan, of Breakthrough Breast Cancer, said: "This research could have important implications for how we might prevent breast cancer in the future.
"However, this is an early stage study, and we look forward to seeing the results of large scale clinical trials to find out if this vaccine would be safe and effective in humans.
"Crucially, there are already things that women can do to reduce their breast cancer risk including reducing alcohol consumption, maintaining a healthy weight and taking regular exercise."
In 2007, 45,700 women were diagnosed with breast cancer and around 1,000 lives are lost a month.
If successful, researchers say GPs could offer it to women before they reach their mid-40s, when the risk of breast cancer starts to rise steeply.
The drug could wipe out up to 70 per cent of breast cancers, saving more than 8,000 lives a year in Britain alone.
Dr Vincent Tuohy, the jab's creator, said it promised to offer "substantial protection" and raised the prospect of wiping out the disease altogether.
"We truly believe that a preventive breast cancer vaccine will do to breast cancer what the polio vaccine has done to polio," he said.
"We think it will provide substantial protection."Our view is that breast cancer is a completely preventable disease."
The vaccine is based on protein called alpha-lactalbumin that lurks in most breast cancer tumours.
In tests on mice bred to develop breast cancers by the age of 10 months, the drug was found to keep them free of tumours, the journal Nature Medicine reports.
The jab stimulates the immune system, priming it to destroy alpha-lactalbumin as it appears, and so stopping tumours from forming.
The drug also harnessed the power of the immune system to shrink pre-existing tumours by up to half, suggesting it could be used as a treatment as well as a vaccine.
Effective cancer vaccines have proved notoriously difficult to make, not least because tumour cells are strikingly similar to healthy tissues.
A poorly-designed cancer vaccine could easily turn the immune system against other parts of the body and cause more harm than good, while another problem is that many cancers weaken the immune system as they grow.
But as the protein targeted by the new drug is only found in healthy breasts when they are producing milk, the jab should specifically target diseased cells, leaving other tissue untouched.
Dr Tuohy, of the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, said: "Tumours are like drunks in a bar, saying and doing things they shouldn't and one of these things is expressing (making) alpha-lactalbumin and we are taking advantage of that."
Finding similar proteins for other cancers, such as bowel or prostate tumours, could lead to vaccines against other diseases.
Dr Tuohy hopes the test the jab on women for the first time next year.
One trial would look at its ability to shrink tumours in women with advanced breast cancer and few other treatment options.
Another would involve young women whose family history puts them at high risk of the disease.
The trials would focus on how safe the jab is and what sort of doses should be given.
The need for longer studies on bigger numbers of women mean it will be at least 10 years before the jab hits the market.
Dr Caitlin Palframan, of Breakthrough Breast Cancer, said: "This research could have important implications for how we might prevent breast cancer in the future.
"However, this is an early stage study, and we look forward to seeing the results of large scale clinical trials to find out if this vaccine would be safe and effective in humans.
"Crucially, there are already things that women can do to reduce their breast cancer risk including reducing alcohol consumption, maintaining a healthy weight and taking regular exercise."
In 2007, 45,700 women were diagnosed with breast cancer and around 1,000 lives are lost a month.
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