2023-10-09 09:36:00
Nurse and mother of three Jennifer Davis, 46, is the first woman to receive three doses of the vaccine as part of a study conducted by the Cleveland Clinic. This clinical trial includes 15 women who completed chemotherapy against a specific type of breast cancer in the past three years.
In 2018, Davis was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer, which occurs in about 10 to 15 percent of breast cancer cases and can recur during the recovery process.
On the other hand, clinical trials for the vaccine developed to prevent cancer began more than once in 2021, and Davis received the third and final dose in the same year.
In February 2018, Davis noticed a lump in her breast and underwent a biopsy to confirm it was correct. Months later, the tumor increased further, so the doctors decided to conduct a new biopsy in September 2018. Then the doctors discovered that the cancer was triple-negative breast cancer, and accordingly, Davis began searching for the best treatments available, according to what was published on the website. “Daily Mail”.
Davis began chemotherapy and underwent a mastectomy followed by 26 sessions of radiotherapy. The triple-negative breast cancer was stage II, meaning it had not yet spread to other parts of the body.
This led her to the first phase of the Cleveland Clinic trial, which took many years to prepare, to test a series of doses targeting the lactation protein, alpha-lactalbumin.
This protein is found in breast milk during pregnancy and breastfeeding, but it is also present in cases of triple-negative breast cancer.
The vaccine targets this protein if cancer develops, as it stimulates a strong immune system response to attack the tumor and prevent it from growing.
Today, five years after being cured and showing no signs of the cancer returning, Davis says, “The vaccine has changed my life.”
Blood tests and immune system tests showed no signs of recurrence or negative side effects.
In this regard, breast oncology specialist Dr. Megan Cross explains, “There is a period of time after a patient is diagnosed and treated for him to be eligible for this study, and fortunately Davis was still in that category and actually became our first patient enrolled in this trial who was treated with the vaccine.”
Triple-negative breast cancer cells do not have estrogen or progesterone receptors, which are proteins found in certain tumor cells to which hormones attach, allowing the cancer cells to grow and multiply.
The women in Davis’ case also lacked a sufficient amount of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2, which plays a key role in keeping breast cells healthy by controlling how quickly they divide, grow and repair themselves.
For his part, Dr. Justin Johnson, director of the program at the Cleveland Clinic and co-developer of the vaccine, confirmed that “the side effects were generally mild, most notably irritation at the injection site.”
The data showed that we succeeded in strengthening immunity to fight alpha-lactalbumin in people, even those who received lower doses.
It should be noted that triple-negative breast cancer affects 10 to 15 percent of breast cancer cases, but causes death in 40 percent.
Davis says, “I knew nothing about this type of cancer before I was diagnosed with it, but with time we learn a lot. It is a type of breast cancer that cannot be treated with anything, whether immunotherapy or otherwise, and its recurrence rate is high.”
Women who undergo treatment early after the disease is diagnosed, 91 percent of them have a chance of living at least 5 years after diagnosis.
If the cancer spreads to other parts of the body, such as the lung, bones, and liver, the survival rate decreases to 12 percent.
“In the summer, we may be able to eliminate breast cancer as a disease just as we eliminated polio and smallpox,” says Dr. Amit Kumar, CEO of Anixa Biosciences, which is developing the vaccine.
He added: “We believe that within the next five years, this vaccine will be available on the market for cases of women like Jenny Davis, who suffered from breast cancer and are worried about its return. After two additional years, it is supposed to become available to all women, even women who have not been infected.” “Breast cancer never, that’s exciting.”
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