Breast cancer prevention vaccine underway

A vaccine to prevent breast cancer may soon undergo patient studies.

Though breast cancer is the most common cancer among women, a vaccine to prevent the deadly disease looked far off till now because of the complex nature of the disease.

TapImmune Inc, a biotechnology company specializing in the development of immunotherapeutics for the treatment of cancer and infectious disease, has recently reached an agreement with Mayo Clinic on technology that has potential to develop breast cancer vaccine.

The company’s TAP (transporters associated with antigen presentation) technology modulates the activity of the antigen processing machinery to increase effective presentation of antigens to the immune system.

In a variety of cancers the level of TAP is reduced.

The option to license this technology can be exercised after Phase I clinical trials under terms agreed between Mayo Clinic and TapImmune.

Upon the approval of the investigational drug TapImmune and Mayo Clinic will execute a Sponsored Research Agreement.

Mayo Clinic will conduct a Phase I clinical trial in breast cancer patients who have a form of breast cancer that express Her2/neu receptors (also called Her2/neu breast cancer).

“We believe that this technology offers a number of advantages in the development of a breast cancer vaccine for a broad patient population. The option to license this technology from Mayo Clinic offers us potential to enhance our cancer vaccine portfolio and clinical research programs,” stated Dr. Glynn Wilson, chairman & CEO of TapImmune.

TapImmune is currently developing its lead clinical candidate, AdhTAP, for the treatment of TAP deficient cancers.

In preclinical studies using a simple injection this product has shown effective restoration of TAP and enhanced killing of tumor cells.

As a vaccine, the TAP technology also has the potential to significantly improve the efficacy of current vaccines and enhance the creation of new ones in the fight against infectious diseases.

TapImmune is working with partners to test the efficacy of TAP in new prophylactic vaccines. The Company plans to advance multiple clinical programs in cancer and infectious disease.

Breast cancer is a cancer of the breast tissue. Today, it is the most common cancer diagnosed in women.

Breast cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death in women. One out of eight women will suffer with breast cancer in their lifetime.

In the United States, over two million women are diagnosed with breast cancer and approximately forty thousand women die of breast cancer yearly. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) statistics, over 1.2 million women will be diagnosed with breast cancer worldwide this year.

Breast cancer is a malignant (cancerous) tumor that occurs when cells in the breast becomes so over-active that they won’t stop multiplying.

Breast cancer refers to a wide variety of cancers that occurs in the breast.

The most common types of breast cancer are ductal carcinoma (occur in milk ducts of the breasts) and Lobular carcinoma (occur in the lobules where breast milk is made).