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Neurosurgeons Find New Treatment for Brain Metastases in Breast Cancer Patients
SAN FRANCISCO (April 10, 2000) --Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in 40 to 59 year-old women in the United States. During the year 2000 alone, 182,800 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer and 40,800 women will die from the disease, according to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Brain metastases will occur in 15 to 30 percent of those patients. However, there may be hope, according to a recent study on the successful treatment of metastatic (cancer that has spread from original tumors to distant organs) breast tumors. Roberta Glick, MD, a neurosurgeon from Chicago, Illinois, and her colleagues (from Chicago and Peoria), Praveen Deshmukh, MD, Terry Lichtor, MD, Edward P. Cohen, MD, and Richard Lister, MD, will report on the findings of this study at the 68th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons on Wednesday, April 12.
The study found that a metastatic breast tumor can be successfully treated with a cellular vaccine that has the potential to prolong the life of a breast cancer patient. A cellular vaccine consisting of allogeneic (species unlike genetically) fibroblasts (connective tissue cells that secrete protein) was used as a means for delivery of Immuno-Gene Therapy, a treatment used to build the patient's immune system, in a mouse brain tumor model. This finding is significant because, as malignant breast cancer is found to be one of the most common tumors metastatic to the brain.
"Even with extensive surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, the prognosis for patients with intracerebral metastatic breast cancer-less than two-year rate of survival-remains extremely poor," said Dr. Glick. "This cellular vaccine therapy presents a possible adjunctive therapy option for patients suffering from this fatal condition."
The study, performed on 30 mice, measured the survival rate of animals with an intracerebral breast cancer, treated with IL-2 secreting allogeneic fibroblasts. The mice were injected with this cellular vaccine into the right frontal lobe, and the results were compared with control groups. The results indicated a significantly increased survival rate in animals with intracerebral metastatic breast cancer treated only with the IL-2 secreting fibroblast vaccine. Subsequently, four of the 10 animals treated with the cellular vaccine did not develop tumors and were rechallenged with tumor. They received no further therapy.
Again, the previously treated mice (immunized) mice had a significantly prolonged survival rate compared to the animals not treated with the vaccine. This suggests that the mice experienced immune memory and the ability to fight off the tumor.
"The cellular vaccine displayed its use as a possible protective tumor vaccine, as well as a treatment vaccine," said Dr. Glick. "This may definitely present a new adjunctive treatment for breast cancer metastatic to the brain," added Dr. Glick.
This new therapy is currently in the process of receiving FDA approval for a Phase I clinical trial, designed to investigate the impact of this therapy in human patients with brain tumors.
Founded in 1931 as the Harvey Cushing Society, the American Association of Neurological Surgeons is a scientific and educational association with nearly 5,500 members worldwide. The AANS is dedicated to advancing the specialty of neurological surgery in order to provide the highest quality of neurosurgical care to the public. All active members of the AANS must be Board-certified by the American Board of Neurological Surgery. Neurosurgery is the medical specialty concerned with the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of disorders that affect the spine, brain, nervous system and peripheral nerves.
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Media Representatives: The Annual Meeting press kit can be found in the Media Center Section of the AANS Web site at: http://www.neurosurgery.org/aans.
If you would like to cover the meeting or interview a neurosurgeon - either on-site or via telephone - please contact the AANS Communications staff at (847) 692-9500 or call the Annual Meeting Press Room beginning Sunday, April 9, at (415) 978-3715 (3716).
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