Army doctor Colonel George Peoples has helped to develop a vaccine that will potentially prevent the recurrence of breast cancer in patients who have gone into remission.

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NeuVax is the drug that started phase III clinical trials in January of 2012. The clinical trial will include a minimum of 700 patients, and will be conducted at over 100 medical facilities throughout the United States. Colonel George Peoples believes this could lead to approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), enabling the drug to be mass produced and given to survivors of breast cancer.

The Man Behind The Vaccine

Colonel Peoples is the chief of surgical oncology at the Military Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. Currently Col. Peoples is deployed in Honduras. His research has focused on the cells that cause breast cancer. Col. Peoples has been a military physician for most of his life and is world-renowned for his medical skills.

How It Works

The vaccine was created to target a chemical in the body called the E75 peptide. It is the most common chemical in breast cancer patients. Herceptin the current drug used to help treat breast cancer, targets another chemical protein called HER2/neu which is only found in treatable quantities in a fraction of breast cancer patients.

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By targeting the E75 instead of the HER2/neu, the vaccine could not only help prevent breast cancer but also a countless number of other cancers that do not create a large amount of HER2/neu proteins in the body.

The Ultimate Goal

Initially, Peoples is hoping to prove that the vaccine is a better alternative for breast cancer patients who are not responding well to the Herceptin. After, he wants to expand his research to see how the vaccine affects patients with other forms of cancer. As all cancers express a level of protein, this means that his vaccine is not limited to breast cancer. Dr Peoples wants more than just to treat cancer; his goal is to prevent the disease entirely.

For the millions of women and their families around the world who have struggled in the fight against breast cancer, this research helps to renew the hope of a cancer-free future.