FAMILY MEDICINE® COLUMN
By John C. Wolf, D.O.
Associate Professor of Family Medicine®
Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine

BREAST CANCER VACCINE SHOWS PROMISE, BUT STILL EXPERIMENTAL

Question: My sister was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. She has had surgery and is now undergoing chemotherapy. In our readings about this condition, we have found several references to "breast cancer vaccine" that is reportedly the safest and most effective treatment, particularly for those whose cancer has spread to the lymph nodes. My sister saw several oncologists, and none of them mentioned the vaccine. Why isn't it more widely used?

Answer: I must admit that your question caught me a bit by surprise. I try to stay up-to-date on the major developments in most areas of medicine. Despite my efforts, I've totally missed information on a breast cancer vaccine. My initial ego-preserving response was that this must be a new treatment done as research in immunology and cancer treatment. Alas, breast cancer vaccine research has been going on for 20 and more years at some centers. I simply was not aware of it.

Ignorance is my excuse for not knowing about breast cancer vaccine, but I doubt that is the case with your sister's oncologists. I'm sure that they are aware of this area of cancer research but have failed to offer her this treatment option because they are not involved with this research. You see, this treatment is still in the experimental stage. It has not become an accepted and, therefore, widely available form of treatment for this devastating disease that strikes one out of every six American women.

To understand about the breast cancer vaccine, I need to tell a bit about the way the body's immune system works. The human body is constantly under attack from bacteria, viruses, fungus, and other organisms that would use our bodies to promote their own survival. Most cause illness such as the common cold, sinus infection, warts, smallpox, measles and others types of disease when they invade. Fortunately, the human body is not defenseless from these assaults. The body's defense system recognizes these invaders as foreign and begins to marshal body resources to destroy them.

The immune system identifies a small part of the invader, usually a short protein sequence, as being "foreign" and forms antibodies that attack it in a way that prevent its intended metabolic activities. The consequence of this is a crippled or destroyed "invader."

Cancer cells are not exactly like normal cells. One consistently unique feature of cancer cells from breast, ovarian or brain tumors is a short segment of proteins. A vaccine has been developed that helps the immune system identify these cancerous proteins and, thereby, destroy them. In theory this could be used to prevent cancer, but the research to date has looked at the ability to increase the life span of those who already have cancer.

Researchers at Chicago Medical School have been studying a breast cancer vaccine for quite some time and now have about 20 years' worth of data on women treated with this approach. Their results have been promising as have those done at other research centers. I hope their research will eventually make available a safe and effective vaccine for treating or preventing this terrible cancer.

Family Medicine® is a weekly column. To submit questions, write to John C. Wolf, D.O., Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine, Grosvenor Hall, Athens, Ohio 45701.