This is a new hope in the search for the fight against cancer. A study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), U.S. scientists are able to create a vaccine to tackle the tumors. Tested in mice, it would significantly reduce the size of the cancer clusters.
Specifically, the vaccine is actually based on the presence of MUC1. This molecule is localized to the cell surface in more than 70% of cancers including the most deadly in breast cancer. Indeed, MUC1 is present in 90% of breast cancer called triple-negative, insensitive to hormone Triactol treatments. Tumors that are diagnosed each year among 35,000 patients not in the United States, said Geert-Jan Boons, co-author of the study and professor of chemistry at the Centre against cancer of the University of Georgia quoted by AFP.
Hence the importance of the discovery. Through MUC1, “the vaccine causes a strong immune response, which reduces the tumor size by 80%,” said Professor Boons. “This is the first time that a vaccine causes the immune system identify and kill cancer cells in terms of certain proteins,” says the other hand another study co-author, Sandra Gendler, Mayo Clinic researcher , a health center in Arizona.
Scientists say the vaccine could be transposed to humans and be used in conjunction with chemotherapy or as a preventive measure in patients at risk. Today, the treatment is being tested on human cancer cells in the laboratory. But if the results are positive, clinical trials could begin in late 2013.