A researcher named Dr Clare Slaney believes that COVID-19 immunity and vaccines could help combat breast cancer. She is currently focused on improving chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, which is a type of immunotherapy that involves collecting a patient’s T-cells, re-engineering them with anti-cancer molecules called chimeric antigen receptors (CARs), and injecting them back into the patient to destroy abnormal cells, including cancer cells. While the therapy has shown promise for blood cancers, it has not yet been proven effective for solid tumors like breast cancer.
Dr Slaney’s idea is to collect COVID-specific “memory T-cells” from patients, re-engineer them to recognize specific breast cancer surface proteins, and use a COVID-19 vaccine to boost their response. The National Breast Cancer Foundation is funding her research, and early indications are positive. If successful, this approach could provide a substantial breakthrough in cancer treatment.
This news is exciting for breast cancer patients like Jessica Pugliese, who was diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in March 2022, just weeks after getting married. She hopes that this research could lead to a new way to fight cancer and improve treatment for patients like her.