Learning that you have breast cancer is one of the most terrifying possibilities for many women. But a trial vaccine from the Mayo Clinic is offering hope in treating the disease.
Breast Cancer in the United States
For women in the United States, breast cancer is the second-most common type diagnosed, after lung cancer. One in 8 US women, about 12%, will develop invasive breast cancer in her lifetime. And unfortunately, 41,760 are expected to pass away from breast cancer in 2019. (1)
But breast cancer is not only limited to women. Men have a 1 in 883 chance of developing breast cancer. Around 2,670 US men are expected to be diagnosed with the disease in 2019. (1)
The Breast Cancer Vaccine
When Lee Mercker of Jacksonville, FL learned she had early-stage breast cancer, she was understandably angry. She was living a healthy, active life, and this wasn’t something she saw coming.
“I was healthy,” she told Fox35 News Orlando. “That’s why I was mad. I was stunned, and everyone around me was more mad and more stunned.” (2)
She sought treatment at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville. Before starting the usual treatment, her doctors offered her an alternative. They offered her an experimental vaccine that combats early-stage breast cancer.
Dr. Keith Knutson is the director of the Discovery and Translation Lab’s Cancer Research Program at Mayo Clinic Jacksonville. In 2017, he received a $3.7 million grant to conduct a trial testing this vaccine. It has been developed to treat the excat cancer Mercker has: ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). Another goal of the vaccine is to prevent the illness from reoccurring in the future. (3)
An Easy Decision
Mercker quickly agreed to the series of shots. “I signed up in like 10 seconds,” she told Fox35. (2)
And it worked! Dr. Knutson says that Mercker’s results are just what his team hoped the vaccine would do as they developed it over time. To get these results in their first test subject was more than they expected. (2, 3)
Dr. Knutson told Fox35, “We saw some evidence of elimination of the tumor, as well as some evidence of the immune system crowding in.” (2)
Since the vaccine was a trial, Mercker still had a double mastectomy to ensure that the cancer was completely gone. The research team can study her breast tissue to learn more. (2)
Mercker feels the weight of participating in the trial for this vaccine. “I feel like I walked on the moon,” she said to Fox35. “I worked in an industry with tons of women and I saw all kinds of stories, and it’d just be really nice to stamp this [breast cancer] out.” (1)
Continued Breast Cancer Research
Dr. Knutson is testing the vaccine on two other patients and is looking for more trial subjects. While the drug still needs more testing, its early results are promising. (2) According to Dr. Knutson, the Mayo Clinic is working on several vaccines for both treating and preventing cancer. He says that in 2020 they will likely begin a trial of a vaccine that he calls a “flu shot against breast cancer”. The vaccine would keep breast cancer from developing in healthy individuals. (1)
