Mayo Clinic
Researchers at the Mayo Clinic Florida campus received a five-year federal grant totaling $ 13 million to test vaccines designed to prevent the recurrence of triple-negative breast cancer. Triple-negative breast cancer is a type of highly malignant breast cancer, and there is currently no targeted treatment.
280 patients will participate in this clinical trial, which began in early 2016.
The funding is a breakthrough award from the U.S. Department of Defense’s Breast Cancer Research Project and will be used to fund a nationwide phase II clinical trial to test the folate receptor alpha vaccine to prevent this highly malignant tumor from recurring after treatment.
A phase I clinical trial involving 22 patients previously led by Keith Knutson, PhD in immunology, found the vaccine safe. It does not induce autoimmunity.
The vaccine was designed by Dr. Knutson and was initially tested by the Mayo Clinic Rochester campus researchers for safety testing and the ability to stimulate the immune system.
It takes advantage of the characteristics of triple negative breast cancer that require folic acid intake. Dr. Knutson said that because of this need, these tumors synthesize a large amount of folate receptor alpha, which is used to latch folic acid into the tumor’s microenvironment.
There is evidence that some patients can naturally develop an immune response to these receptors. “But cancer is too strong for this weak immune response,” Dr. Knutson said.
The purpose of the vaccine is to promote the immune system to respond quickly to cancer cell receptors during the early stages of tumor recurrence.
He said, “We believe that the vaccine will provide a stronger and lasting immune response to the recipient, which will in turn improve the body’s ability to obtain folic acid by cutting off the tumor and directly or indirectly kill the tumor.”
