Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women and is also the second leading cause of cancer death. Around 13 percent women have the chance of developing breast cancer in their lifetime.

The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2007 about "178,480 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed among women in the United States." It adds that this year "40,460 women and 450 men will die from breast cancer in the United States."

Breast cancer is also the leading cause of death from cancers in women worldwide. The new vaccine developed by Denderon is an extension of the Provenge prostate cancer vaccine.

The new vaccine was tested in a Phase I trial involving 19 women who had HER2-overexpressing metastatic breast cancer that had not responded to standard therapy.  Among them 18 patients underwent treatment with the new vaccine.

These 18 patients were given infusions of NEUVENGE at Weeks 0, 2, and 4. This regimen was followed by randomized treatment. Denderon said that patients who achieved a partial response, or had stable disease lasting through Week 52, were eligible for re-treatment, a booster, using the same protocol and dose as the initial treatment.

The researchers at the University of California, San Francisco found that the vaccine was generally well tolerated and the only adverse effects were mild, including infusion-related fever and chills that were usually of low grade and typically lasted for one to two days following infusion.

Lead researcher Dr. John Park of the University of California, San Francisco wrote in the latest issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology that there was a partial response to the treatment.

“The sponsor of this vaccine technology, Dendreon, is also associated with Provenge,” Park said. “We on the breast cancer side are trying to encourage them to develop Neuvenge with the same vigor that they have tried to apply to Provenge, but it is not a company that has unlimited resources.”

Neuvenge belongs to an innovative class of drugs called new class of active cellular immunotherapies (ACIs). These drugs are designed to stimulate the patient's own immune system and thus enhance the body's ability to fight the cancer.

While cancer fighting drugs have shown many side effects, a cancer vaccine is the Holy Grail as far as breast cancer researchers are concerned. If Denderon decides to move to a Phase 2 trial then it could only mean one more weapon to fight one of the most deadly cancers of our time.

 Note: Article includes material from Denderon Corporation's Press Release