Funded by Hooters of America, LLC
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in the United States and second leading cause of cancer death. When a woman is diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) (cancer that has spread to other parts of the body) she has a less than 30% chance of surviving 5 years. These statistics remain despite decades of research and many new treatments for MBC. This suggests that we need better ways to administer drugs for MBC.
Hormone receptor positive (HR+) breast cancer is fed or fueled by estrogen and progesterone, the natural hormones of the body. HR+ MBC is initially treated with drugs that block the estrogen and progesterone production in the body. However, eventually cancer cells can become “resistant” to these hormone blocker drugs, most commonly by developing a “mutation” in the receptor of estrogen called ESR1. Once this mutation develops, the treatment is more challenging and usually involves use of chemotherapy which can lead to patients feeling sick and having multiple side effects from treatment.
In this proposal we plan to enroll HR+ MBC patients who have already developed an ESR1 mutation and offer a novel way of targeting this mutation. This will help extend time on treatment with minor side effects and possibly increase survival. We will do so by creating vaccines out of their own immune system that will allow them to wake up and engage in the fight against their cancer. This treatment will be combined with standard of care hormone blocking therapy.
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