T cells that recognize HER2 teceptor may prevent HER2+ breast cancer recurrence

Recurrence of HER2-positive breast cancer after treatment may be due to a specific and possibly cancer -induced weakness in the patient’s immune system – a weakness that in principle could be corrected with a HER2-targeted vaccine – according to a new study from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Results of the study show that T cells from patients whose breast cancer had recently recurred showed far weaker response to the HER2 receptor protein, compared to T cells from patients whose breast cancer had not recurred over a long period following treatment.