Vaccine shows promise.

2003 NOV 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- After five major surgeries for a particularly aggressive form of breast cancer, Patricia Thomas called the little pinprick she received in a government study the simplest procedure she's undergone.

That pinprick above her knee was an experimental vaccine derived from tiny bits of tumor protein that researchers hope will keep the 70-year-old Arlington, Virginia, woman's cancer from returning.

Though only preliminary, early results in Thomas and 13 other vaccinated survivors of advanced breast cancer suggest the researchers might be on the right path. They have detected signs that the vaccine triggered an immune-system response in all 14 that might potentially fight recurring cancer cells, said co-researcher Dr. George Peoples, Jr., of Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Peoples presented study results on October 22, 2003, at an American College of Surgeons meeting in Chicago, Illinois. He stressed that the experimental vaccine is not a cancer cure, but said it might someday help prevent the disease in high-risk women.

Dr. Clifford Hudis, a breast cancer specialist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, called the results promising and said they bolster previous evidence from similar breast cancer vaccine research. While it's unclear if the results will translate into disease prevention, "it's a critical first step," Hudis said.

Vaccine studies are a burgeoning area of cancer research. Unlike traditional vaccines, which generally aim to prevent disease, some experimental cancer vaccines are designed to treat or cure existing disease.

The women studied at Walter Reed all had received conventional treatment for cancer that had spread to the lymph nodes. They had no symptoms when they were vaccinated but likely had lingering cancer cells and face a high risk of relapse.