DC Vaccine for Patients With Ductal Carcinoma In Situ

The treatment of patients with DCIS can be individualized and tailored to the type of DCIS and the relative risk of the lesion. HER-2/neu over-expressing DCIS represents a group of patients with significant risk for development of invasive breast cancer. In this proposal we will continue to evaluate the development of type I polarized DC for the treatment of DCIS by evaluating whether further improvements in therapeutic response can be achieved by intratumoral administration of HER-2/neu pulsed DC1 compared with our current intranodal administration. Women who are diagnosed with Her-2/neu over-expressing DCIS with no invasive carcinoma will be eligible for this study. Patients will receive DC1 vaccines by intranodal, intralesional, or both routes of administration. The primary objective will be safety and administration with secondary objectives of immune activation and clinical response. We will also develop a novel assay to monitor ongoing immunity to HER-2/neu, and lastly will begin to develop these vaccines for patients with invasive breast cancer as well. Fifty-four subjects will be randomized to one of three treatment arms: intranodal injection, intralesional injection, or intranodal and intralesional injection of the vaccine. Upon entering this study, the subjects' blood will be drawn in a way that collects only the white blood cells. Subjects then receive six vaccines over a six week period. They will then undergo the standard surgical procedure to remove any remaining DCIS in the breast.