In HER2 positive breast cancer, vaccine reduces recurrence

the Oncology Nurse Advisor take:

According to results presented by The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center at the 2014 American Society of Clinical Oncology's (ASCO) Breast Cancer Symposium in San Francisco, California, GP2, a novel immunotherapy breast cancer vaccine, has demonstrated a reduction in recurrence in patients with breast cancer. Specifically, GP2 reduced recurrence rates by 57% in women with breast cancer.

Furthermore, patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) +3, the highest overexpression of HER2, experienced no cancer recurrences after receiving the vaccine after trastuzumab therapy.

In the randomized, phase 2 study, 89 patients with different levels of HER2 received granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and the GP2 vaccine, while 91 patients received only GM-CSF. The vaccine administration consisted of six monthly inoculations injected subcutaneously, followed by a booster shot given every 6 months for 2 years. Participants were monitored for approximately 3 years.

In the experimental group, 88% of women achieved disease-free survival for the duration of the study compared with 81% of women in the control group, equating to a 37% reduction in recurrence.