Lead investigator, W. Martin Kast suggested that the same strategy that worked in the mice might work for men with rising levels of prostate specific antigen, or PSA, a potential diagnostic indicator of prostate cancer.

"By early vaccination, we have basically given these mice life-long protection against a disease they were destined to have," Kast said in a statement. "This has never been done before and, with further research, could represent a paradigm shift in the management of human prostate cancer."

The prostate cancer preventive vaccine is designed to mount an immune response against prostate stem cell antigen, or PSCA, the protein target of some therapeutic vaccines under development. PSCA, a membrane protein, is over produced in about one-third of early-stage prostate cancers, but expression ramps up in all prostate tumors as they grow and advance.

The findings are published in the journal Cancer Research.