Trial For Breast Cancer Vaccine Opens at UCSF

The Theratope vaccine is an investigational biological product manufactured by Biomira Inc. In earlier clinical trials, an apparent survival advantage was observed in patients with breast cancer treated with a single low dose of IV cyclophosphamide (as an immune modulator) followed by treatment with the Theratope vaccine, compared to a retrospective control group of patients not treated with the vaccine. This study is a randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled study with a total of 950 patients; 475 patients receiving the Theratope vaccine and 475 receiving the control vaccine. You will have an equal chance of receiving the vaccine or the control. The study is designed to assess if the vaccine treatment may help a patient's immune system repress cancer growth, and thereby keep a patient's disease in remission longer than patients who receive the control vaccine. In order to enroll on the study, you must be a patient with metastatic breast cancer who is finishing your first chemotherapy for the cancer's recurrence. The vaccine treatment must start within 6-8 weeks of finishing your chemotherapy course. Patients will be closely monitored throughout the study.