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Written by tinabudde
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15 April 2008 |
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A HER2 peptide vaccine reduced mortality by 50% in patients with HER2/neu-positive breast cancer.....
E75 vaccine reduced recurrence, mortality in HER2/neu breast cancer
SAN DIEGO — A HER2 peptide vaccine reduced mortality by 50% in patients with HER2/neu-positive breast cancer, according to the results of a study presented yesterday at the 2008 Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research.
“E75, if validated in phase-3 testing, may represent a new form of HER2/neu-directed immunotherapy, which could be utilized in the HER2/neu low-expressing group of breast cancer patients,” Linda C. Benavides, MD, a resident in general surgery at Brooke Army Medical Center, said at an April 13 press briefing.
Benavides presented results from a phase-2 trial of about 200 women with node-positive and node-negative breast cancer. The trial was conducted in the adjuvant setting. Women were clinically disease free and treated with standard multimodality therapy. Ninety-two women underwent vaccination and researchers followed them for a median of 30 months.
The mortality rate in women with over-expressing HER2 tumors was 9.1% for the control group vs. 3.4% for the vaccine group. In the low-expressers, mortality was 6.8% for the control group vs. 0% for the vaccine group.
Recurrence rates also decreased with the vaccine. In the over- and low-expresser control groups, recurrence was 18.2%. In the vaccine group, recurrence was 13.8% for over-expressers and 10.7% for low-expressers.
The vaccine also had an effect among patients who had recurrence. In the over-expressers with recurrence, the risk of mortality for the control group was 50% compared with 25% for the vaccine group. For low-expressers who recurred, the risk of mortality was 38% for the control group compared with 0% for the vaccine group.
The vaccine was intradermal, given every three to four weeks for a total of six inoculations. The trial showed that the vaccine is safe with only minimal flu-like symptoms in <20% of women. – by Leah Lawrence
The numbers here are very small, but the concept is good. If you can vaccinate against a protein, especially a mutant protein or an over-expressed protein, and you can demonstrate that the body has responded by making T lymphocytes that are now targeting HER2 expressing cells, that is a very important first step. I am being cautiously optimistic.
– William N. Hait, MD, PhD
Immediate Past President, AACR
For more information:
Benavides LC. #2545. Presented at: the 2008 Annual Meeting of the American Association of Cancer Research; April 12-16, 2008; San Diego.
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