A personalized vaccine held an aggressive group of cancers including gastroesophageal (GE) junction cancer in check among more than half of patients who received it in a small, preliminary trial.
HER2-positive cancers are cancers that have too much of the HER2 protein on their surface. In that setting, cancer can grow rapidly and be more likely to spread to other areas of the body. Areas known to have HER2-positive cancers include the breasts, bladder, pancreas, ovaries, and stomach.
Using the patients’ own blood cells, researchers at the U.S. National Cancer Institute modified immune cells and created personalized vaccines to target HER2-positive cancers throughout the body. A benefit was seen in people with cancer in the stomach, colon and ovaries, said study author Dr. Jay Berzofsky.
The vaccine “was safe in humans without any acute or delayed side effects, and clinical benefit was observed in six of 11 patients whose data were available for analysis,” he said. Berzofsky is the chief of the
