I have a dream. Well, I have many dreams, but this one is about an easy, almost painless means of ensuring that no woman ever has to face, fight or survive breast cancer again. A vaccine. Am I just dreaming? Maybe. Maybe not.
Mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) is a proven cause of breast cancer in field and experimental mice. MMTV was discovered way back in 1936. MMTV-like viral genetic material has been identified in human breast tumors, but it’s not known whether it actually causes tumor development. Research has uncovered a human mammary tumor virus, HMTV, which is 95-98% similar to the mouse virus (MMTV), so they are believed to be the same virus.
HMTV has been found in approximately 40 percent of all human breast cancer specimens examined, in 60 percent of pregnancy-associated breast cancers, and in 71 percent of inflammatory breast cancers. Women whose tumors show evidence of the virus have antibodies to it 95 percent of the time, whereas normal, healthy women have antibodies to the virus less than 5 percent of the time.
A research team, led by Vincent Tuohy, PhD, at Cleveland Clinic’s Lerner Research Institute, have developed a vaccine that prevents breast cancer tumors from forming in mice, while inhibiting the growth of existing tumors. The vaccine contains the antigen a-lactalbumin. In the latest study, genetically cancer-prone mice were vaccinated - half with a vaccine containing the antigen and half with a vaccine that didn’t contain the antigen. None of the mice vaccinated with the antigen developed breast cancer, while all of the other mice did.
Unlike the FDA approved cervical cancer vaccine and liver cancer vaccines, both of which target viruses (human papillomavirus and Hepatitis B viruses), this mouse vaccine targets cancer formation itself. Tuohy explains that the key in developing a human breast cancer vaccine is therefore to find a target within the tumor that isn’t typically found in a healthy person. In the case of breast cancer, they are targeting a-lactalbumin, a protein found in the majority of breast cancers but not in healthy women, except during lactation. The vaccine is expected to stimulate a woman’s immune system to target a-lactalbumin, stopping tumor formation without damaging healthy breast tissue.
The hoped for strategy would be to vaccinate women over 40, when breast cancer risk begins to increase and pregnancy becomes less likely. The vaccine would also be an alternative option for younger women with a heightened risk of breast cancer, instead of prophylactic mastectomies.
While there is still controversy over just how many breast cancers contain a-lactalbumin, Tuohy is hopeful that his findings might lead to vaccines for other types of cancer, and so am I. His vaccine is ready to be tested for safety in humans, but guess what. Komen has turned him down for funding 3 times and Avon has refused to even consider it. Hmmmm…. Maybe Mr. Tuohy scared the queens of pinkwashing when he said, “”If it works in humans the way it works in mice, this will be monumental. We could eliminate breast cancer.”
I first heard about the possibility of one or more breast cancer viruses from Dr. Kathleen Ruddy, founder of The Breast Health and Healing Foundation. Talk About Health hosted a question/answer session with Dr. Ruddy, which is a great place to start if you’re interested in learning more about this topic.
Susan Beausang, 4Women.com
Further reading:
http://talkabouthealth.com/breast-cancer-virus
http://www.autoimmune.com/HMTVGen.html
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Thanks Susan. Women who are newly diagnosed with Ductal Carcinoma in Situ who are also Her2/neu positive can get this vaccine and THEN have their lumpectomy. In my case, my own cells were made into this vaccine and there was no cancerous tissue left! Please tell any woman you can about it. Too many women get lumpectomies and then find a few years later their cancer has come back. This vaccine can help prevent reccurances by making their body immune to the DCIS/her2/neu cells that might appear in the future. The prophylactic vaccine that Dr.Tuohy wants to start clinical trials on is very promising but he is not yet ready to begin. On Breastcancertrials.org there are about 30 different clinical trials for breast cancer (varying stages and types). Feel free to contact me anytime. [email protected]
August 8, 2011 - 5:51pmThis Comment
Thank you for sharing the link to Dr. Brian Czerniecki. Wow, this is a whole new world of information here. I'll pass it on.
August 8, 2011 - 9:45amSusan
This Comment
I absolutely think we could have this vaccine NOW if only the researchers had the money to start the trial for a prophylactic vaccine. Dr. Tuohy deserves an enormous amount of support. I wonder who wouldn't want to end BC. I got a theraputic vaccine for DCIS/Her2/neu in a clinical trial at Penn Medicine by Dr. Brian Czerniecki. Google him. And we are also raising funds directly for research at Penniesinaction.org. Check out my website www.shelleydodt.com for the whole story!
August 8, 2011 - 9:27amThis Comment