Archive · 12 Dec 2025
Cleveland Clinic Vaccine Trial Shows Promise for Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
Doctors at the Cleveland Clinic tested a new vaccine for a tough type of breast cancer called triple-negative breast cancer.
This cancer is hard to treat because it doesn't respond to usual treatments.
The vaccine tries to teach the body's immune system to fight the cancer cells.
In the first test with 35 people, 74% of them showed that their immune system reacted to the vaccine, and it was safe with only mild side effects.
This is a good first step, but more tests are needed to see if the vaccine can actually prevent cancer from coming back or help people live longer.
The next step is to do bigger tests to see if it really works.
A Phase 1 clinical trial of a vaccine for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) showed 74% of participants developed an immune response.
The vaccine targets alpha-lactalbumin, a protein found in many TNBC tumors, and was found to be safe with mild side effects.
The trial included 35 participants at high risk of TNBC recurrence or with high genetic risk.
The vaccine aims to activate the immune system to recognize and attack TNBC cells, offering a potential new treatment approach.
Next steps include Phase 2 trials to evaluate clinical efficacy, such as reduced recurrence and improved survival rates.
- Who
- Researchers from Cleveland Clinic, Anixa Biosciences, and US Department of Defense
- What
- Phase 1 clinical trial of a vaccine for triple-negative breast cancer
- When
- Results presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium
- Where
- Cleveland Clinic, USA
- Why
- To activate the immune system against TNBC tumor cells expressing alpha-lactalbumin
- Disease Targeted
- Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC)
- Vaccine Target
- Alpha-lactalbumin (aLA)
- Immune Response Rate
- 74% of participants
- Trial Phase
- Phase 1
- Participants
- 35
- Trial Location
- Cleveland Clinic, USA
- Funding
- US Department of Defense, Anixa Biosciences
- Next Steps
- Phase 2 trials for clinical efficacy