This vaccination strategy if successful in developing an immune response to the pulsed peptides could provide the rationale for larger studies that involve adjuvant immunotherapy being added to standard chemotherapy for patients at high risk for recurrence.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women, other than skin cancer.
It is also the second leading cause of cancer death in women after lung cancer, and is the leading cause of cancer death among women aged 40 to 55. Patients will be counseled by the Principal Investigator, and referred for initial screening to the Protocol Nurse. Patients must have fully recovered from surgery, and must not have received any chemotherapy, radiotherapy, hormonal therapy, or immunotherapy within 4 weeks preceding vaccination. Patients must have an expected survival of at least three months. Patients must be 18 years old and must be able to give written informed consent.