Breast Cancer Vaccine Patent Granted

Fact checked by John Paul Sanchez, PharmD

Published

November 7, 2019

Anixa Biosciences patent covers breast cancer vaccine technology

(Vax-Before-Travel)

A San Jose California biotechnology company announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued US Patent No. 10,463,724 titled "Breast Cancer Vaccine."

This patent, filed in September 2015, is one of several patents and patent applications in the portfolio licensed to Anixa Biosciences from the Cleveland Clinic, covering the innovative breast cancer vaccine technology.

The lead inventor on the patent is Dr. Vincent Tuohy of the Department of Inflammation and Immunity at the Cleveland Clinic's Lerner Research Institute and also the Mort and Iris November Distinguished Chair in Innovative Breast Cancer Research.

"We are pleased that this key patent has been issued for technology, which we hope may eliminate breast cancer," stated Dr. Amit Kumar, Chief Executive Officer of Anixa, in a November 5, 2019, press release.

"This patent covers Dr. Tuohy's method of protecting women from developing breast cancer by vaccinating against a protein that is "retired" from service after a woman has stopped lactating, only to reappear later in life in many forms of breast cancer, especially triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), the most lethal form of the disease.”

‘Cleveland Clinic researchers have identified a protein called alpha-lactalbumin that is present in healthy breast tissue only when a woman is lactating and disappears when she stops nursing her child.’

‘Alpha-lactalbumin is never present on any other cell in the body. However, it does show up in many types of breast cancer, including TNBC.’

‘By developing a vaccine that targets alpha-lactalbumin, we feel the immune system can destroy these breast cancer cells as they arise and ultimately prevent breast tumors from forming,’ says Anixa website.

This patent is important since about 10-20 percent of breast cancers are TNBC.

Often, TNBC patients first need to have the lump removed (a lumpectomy) or the entire breast removed (a mastectomy), says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Then they have chemotherapy treatments to target any cancer cells that can’t be seen—cells remaining in the breast or that may have spread into other parts of the body.

TNBC tends to behave more aggressively than other types of breast cancer. Although TNBC is sensitive to chemotherapy, the overall outcomes of TNBC are worse than for other breast cancers.

TNBC is cancer that tests negative for estrogen receptors, progesterone receptors, and excess HER2 protein.

Unlike other breast cancer subtypes, such as ER-positive and HER2-positive subtypes, there are no approved targeted treatments available, other than the administration of chemotherapy.

Immunotherapy is a new kind of treatment approach for TNBC when compared with surgical treatment, chemotherapy, endocrine therapy, and molecular targeting therapy, says the CDC.