Vaccine May Fight Breast Cancers

Researchers at the University of California at San Francisco say they have developed a vaccine that could prove to be an effective tool in the fight against breast cancer.

The vaccine targets a specific protein common in pre-malignant breast cancer tumors. About 10 percent to 15 percent of the 180,000 women who get breast cancer each year are diagnosed in this pre-malignant stage.

Mice injected with the vaccine developed antibodies and were less likely to develop cancerous tumors, said Dr. Laura Esserman, director of the university’s Breast Care Center and a nationally recognized breast cancer researcher.

The study on the effects of the vaccine suggest it might prevent pre-malignant lesions called ductal carcinoma in situ, or DCIS, from becoming invasive breast cancer in humans, Esserman said.