Breast cancers and other epithelial malignancies are antigenic and elicit lymphocyte responses in the autologous host; and patients that express good host immunity to their tumor have better survival. Adequate host immunity is an independent prognostic indicator and those with poor immunity have less survival and shorter disease free intervals. The Company’s novel approach defines the general and tumor specific immune status of patients longitudinally pre and post immunotherapy using autologous tumor antigens to immunize patients. We have the ability to discriminate patients who are immunologically unreactive to tumor antigens and may be generally lymphocyte depressed from those who are tumor antigen reactive and lymphocyte competent, thus those patients who are unreactive and in need of immunostimulation with specific tumor antigen qualify for vaccination.

We developed our vaccine in 1993 and began vaccinating appropriate patients. We obtained the first patent on a breast cancer vaccine in the U.S.A. in 1994, and were the first to use the cytokines G-M-CSF and IL2 as biological adjuvants. Appropriate patients are vaccinated in the adjuvant setting and patients with advanced disease are treated with a combined chemoimmunotherapy protocol. Some of these patients have had dramatic responses.

The Company is presently devoting much research to the tumor stroma and microenvironment for a better understanding of tumor escape mechanisms. This will allow us the ability to better attack the tumor with specific adaptive immunotherapy. This work is in progress and early results are producing exciting results.