Almost everyone has been touched by breast cancer. It may be your mom, sister, or wife, or even your dad, brother, or husband… breast cancer hits men too. But whether it’s touched you or someone you love, breast cancer is a dark cloud that follows all of us. That’s why we were so excited to read the recent headlines announcing that “a trial vaccine wipes out a woman’s breast cancer”. While there is real reason to be excited, the headline is misleading. Leave it to an auto shop to clear up the BS.
The story concerns Lee Mercker, a woman from Jacksonville, Florida, who was diagnosed with “stage zero” breast cancer… she had cancer cells, but they hadn’t spread beyond her breast ducts. She was the first person to receive an experimental vaccine to stimulate their own immune response, making the immune system’s T-cells attack the cancer as they would another disease. It worked, the tumor shrunk, and her immune system cleared the cancer cells. She still underwent a double mastectomy preventatively; the vaccine was experimental and they didn’t want to risk cancer, and also the breast tissue will be examined deeply as part of the research. Two other women are currently undergoing the same test regimen.
The point of this trial wasn’t necessarily to ‘cure cancer’, but to show that the vaccine could provoke an immune response against cancer. It was extremely encouraging and there is real reason to rejoice, but a cure is still a ways off. Dr. Keith Knutson, Merker’s doctor, says “It is reasonable to say that we could have a vaccine within eight years that may be available to patients through their pharmacy or their doctor.”
Trial vaccine wipes out woman’s breast cancer. She was the innovation’s first human subject., Jisha Josep on Upworthy, Oct 2019
Behind the Hype: Breast Cancer Vaccine, Dr. Susan Love on DrSusanLoveResearch.org, Oct 2019
The New Breast Cancer Vaccine Being Tested in Clinical Trials — Is There Really Such Thing as a “Vaccine For Cancer”? Caroline Hopkins on SurvivorNet.com, Oct 2019
How a Trial Vaccine Helped Wipe Out a Woman’s Breast Cancer in 7 Months, Korin Miller on Prevention, Oct 2019
Florida Woman Recovers from Breast Cancer with Trial Vaccine: ‘I Feel Like I Walked on the Moon’, Julie Mazziotta in People, Oct 2019
Clinical trials for new cancer vaccine at Mayo Clinic show promising results, Karl Oestreich in Mayo Clinic News, Oct 2019
US Breast Cancer Statistics, BreastCancer.org
Scientists Are Close to Rewriting The Genetic Code of Life, Jacinta Bowler on ScienceAlert, Aug 2016
