Breast Cancer Vaccine Being Tested

Doctors are working on a new way to help breast cancer survivors win the fight once and for all and it's available in our region.
 
Kellie Trombitas  is a fighter.    She underwent both chemotherapy and radiation to knock-out breast cancer over ten tough months.   Now, she's excited to be cancer free.   But Kellie still has concerns. 
 
So she's taking part in a  clinical trial  to test E-75  a vaccine to help protect breast cancer survivors from recurrence.  E-75 is a part of the HER-2 Neu protein which  helps stimulate T-cells to attack cancer cells.

In trials, women injected with the vaccine saw a 50-percent reduction in recurrence.  The drug Herceptin can do the same but in a different way.

Only 20% of breast cancer survivors, those with high levels of HER-2, can take Herceptin. E-75 developer George Peoples says three times as many survivors could benefit from his vaccine.  It targets women like Kellie, who have lower levels of HER-2. 
 
 Doctor Peoples explained, "it allows us to use the vaccine for patients who are otherwise not eligible to receive Herceptin." 
 Kellie's still getting stronger, fighting to keep cancer from making a comeback.
 
Doctor Peoples says one day the vaccine could be used to fight lung, prostate and ovarian cancers that also express the her-2 protein.

Conemaugh Memorial in Johnstown is the one site in Pennsylvania that's still recruiting for the breast cancer vaccine trial.

For more information on the breast cancer vaccine trial.