What about a breast cancer vaccine?
October 7, 2008 by Grace Ibay
Filed under Health
It’s already been done with cervical cancer, so why not develop a vaccine for breast cancer? That’s the challenge that Professor Valerie Beral of Oxford University asks the scientific community.
The lead scientist in the Million Women’s Study says that the causes of breast cancer have been so well studied that a vaccine or a prophylactic drug is should be a real possibility. Speaking to the UK Guardian, Beral suggested that genes played a part in only a small number of breast cancer. Instead, it’s the processes of birth and breastfeeding that protect a woman from breast cancer more than anything else.
It’s interesting that the short-term exposure during late pregnancy and prolonged breastfeeding were postulated to have protective effects against breast cancer development. Unfortunately, less than a dozen scientists are looking into this possibility. Adds Beral -
"It is not well-funded. It is not mainstream research. Why isn’t it a priority of the cancer community?"
Why indeed?
SHOUT OUT: October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and Karen at Pink Ribbon Review is all about being an advocate for the disease.
© Vladislav Gansovsky – Fotolia.com
