Breast cancer vaccine being developed

BUFFALO, N.Y., Jan. 22 (UPI) -- Researchers at the University at Buffalo and King Saud University in Saudi Arabia said they are working together to develop a breast cancer vaccine.

Kate Rittenhouse-Olson, professor of biotechnical and clinical laboratory sciences at the University at Buffalo, is collaborating with Adel Almogren, a professor at King Saud University, who worked with Rittenhouse when he was a graduate student at the University at Buffalo.

Their work, published in the journal Neoplasia, resulted in groundbreaking research on development of a novel vaccine immunotherapy approach that may be able to decrease the tumor burden in cancer patients by blocking cancer metastasis, the researchers said.

The researchers said they are perfecting the vaccine in an animal model for ultimate use in humans.

"This is a very promising vaccine target, because if we are successful, it could be important to breast, colon, bladder and prostate cancer patients," Rittenhouse-Olson said in a statement.

Rittenhouse-Olson, her husband James Olson, a UB professor of pharmacology and toxicology, and colleagues Susan Morey and Jamie Heimburg-Molinaro were invited to visit Riyadh and to meet the Saudi king, known in his country as The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah ibn Abdulaziz Al Saud, who presented them with gold medals engraved with images of King Saud University.

"He is very interested in cancer research and education," Rittenhouse-Olson said.