FDA: Cleveland Clinic Can Move Forward With Trials Of Breast Cancer Vaccine

Making a major stride, researchers at the Cleveland Clinic got a green light from the Food and Drug Administration to begin human trials for a breast cancer vaccine in 2021.

Human clinical trials could begin by spring, according to WFXR. Pre-trials showed that all mice that received the placebo instead of the vaccination ultimately developed a fatal case of breast cancer.

Cleveland Clinic immunologist Dr. Vincent Tuohy has been developing the vaccine, an endeavor that’s been in the works for a decade.

“We know enough about the immune system now to try these things,” Tuohy told WFXR. “We have the ability, but we’re on snail pace. We need to be on warp speed pace.”

Researchers aim to immunize a protein that is often a precursor to cancer in mammary glands of women, according to WFXR.

“It’s not absolutely clear why, but it starts being made again and we simply have to teach the immune system to destroy the cells making that protein. Because those are cancer cells,” explained Dr. Amit Kumar, President and CEO of Anixa Biosciences, which partnered with the Cleveland Clinic.

Cancer is the second-leading cause of death, second only to heart disease, in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2017, the latest incidence data available, 125 new female breast cancer cases were reported for every 100,000 women.

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