TapImmune, Fred Hutchinson Center get boosts for cancer treatments | Health

The biotech industry in South Lake Union and Eastlake got two big boosts this week, and both include treatments that fight breast cancer.

On Tuesday, Eastlake-based TapImmune announced that they had joined up with the Mayo Clinic to start clinical trials on a drug that is supposed to help the body reactivate its immune system to help fight viruses and tumors, including those that would cause cancer. The vaccine will be tested specifically on breast cancer cells at first, but the company believes the vaccine can be effective against many forms of cancer.

On Wednesday, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center announced that it had received an $11.5 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to lead a five-year breast cancer research consortium. Researchers from FHC and the University of Washington will form the Seattle Cancer Consortium Breast SPORE (Specialized Program in Research Excellence).

The group will be working on projects involving treatment, why some patients don’t respond well to treatment, genetic triggers and trying to predict how a patient will respond to treatment.