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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2009
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Breast Cancer Vaccine Passes Safety Test

18 patients treated without harm, some benefit seen in slowing disease

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(Newser) – A breast cancer vaccine is one step closer to FDA approval after a study found it produced no harmful effects in 18 women treated, and showed some signs of slowing tumors, Reuters reports. Neuvenge is meant to treat people who already have cancer by triggering the immune system to fight the disease; it must be tailored for each patient.

Four of the women with advanced breast cancer appeared to be helped by the vaccine: in one, tumors shrank over the course of the treatment, and in three others the cancer's progress was halted for up to a year. The vaccine targets a type of breast cancer called her2/neu-positive, which affects 20-30% of breast cancer patients.

Breast cancer survivors cheer during the Parade of Pink before the start of the 2007 Susan G. Komen National Race for the Cure Saturday, June 2, 2007, in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)
Breast cancer survivors cheer during the Parade of Pink before the start of the 2007 Susan G. Komen National Race for the Cure Saturday, June 2, 2007, in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)   (Associated Press)
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