With over 265,000 new cases per year and over 50,000 deaths, breast and ovarian cancers represent a significant health burden in the USA.  Prior work has demonstrated that CD4 helper T cell immunity is protective against recurrence of both breast and ovarian cancer.  Based on pre-existent immunity, several degenerate epitope-based vaccines have been developed targeting tumor-associated antigens such as HER2/neu and the Folate Receptor Alpha.  These vaccines demonstrate the ability to generate robust long-lived immunity and may have a role, when combined with other agents, in protecting against disease relapse.

Learning Objectives: 

1. Learn fundamentals of vaccination
2. Learn types of antigens that are targeted with cancer vaccines.
3. Learn clinical settings in which vaccines are being used.