Triple Negative Breast Cancer, "I Won't Back Down!": Dr. Vincent Tuohy's Research on Breast Cancer Prevention Vaccine

What is TNBC

WHAT IS TRIPLE NEGATIVE BREAST CANCER?

Just in recent years, Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) has sparked interest in the news where instead of calling the tumor as ER-negative, PR-negative, and HER2-negative; researchers began using the shorthand term, "Triple Negative," dubbed the "new type" of breast cancer. Being Triple Negative, you don't have a targeted therapy and your only treatment option is chemotherapy.

Triple Negative Breast Cancer is seen in about 15% of all breast cancers. TNBC is a very aggressive cancer that tends to strike younger women, pre-menopause, especially among African-American women and women who have BRCA1 mutations. The tumor tends to be fast growing and is less likely to show up on an annual mammogram. TNBC is more likely to metastasis early on; has a high rate of recurrence in the first 2-3 years from diagnosis and has a poorer prognosis than other types of breast cancer due to lack of specific, targeted treatment for TNBC.

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Dr. Vincent Tuohy's Research on Breast Cancer Prevention Vaccine

Dr. Vicent Tuohy, Toni Turchi
and Melissa Paskvan

October 5, 2013, I had the pleasure of meeting Toni Turchi, my Triple Negative Breast Cancer Survivor and founder of the Toni Turchi Foundation and Dr. Vincent Tuohy, the researcher behind the breast cancer prevention vaccine. I spoke and listened to Dr. Tuohy, and I'm telling you, this is a story you should be following... waiting on FDA approval to go forward with a Phase 1 clinical trial.
Pictured with me is Toni Turchi and Dr. Tuohy at the Toni Turchi Foundation 5k run/walk benefiting the Cleveland Clinic and the research of Dr. Tuohy's vaccine.

Press Release Sept. 17, 2013
http://my.clevelandclinic.org/media_relations/library/2013/2013-09-17-cleveland-clinic-innovations-creates-spin-off-company-to-develop-vaccine-for-preventing-breast-cancer.aspx
(Click link to full story)

“We have proposed that breast cancer may be effectively controlled by providing healthy cancer-free women with pre-emptive immunity against emerging breast tumors,” said Tuohy. “We propose to provide women with an immune defense or shield that will protect them from developing breast cancer. Our data show that safe and effective immune protection against this disease can be induced by vaccinating against proteins that are no longer expressed in aging breast tissues but are significantly overexpressed in triple-negative breast cancer, the most aggressive and lethal form of this disease. We hope to provide women with a safe, effective and relatively benign alternative to invasive prophylactic mastectomy.” - Dr. Vincent Tuohy