October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and we want to share with you an exciting story about a possible vaccine for breast cancer!
Currently in clinical trials, the vaccine is for triple negative breast cancer. Since tens of thousands of women die from breast cancer every year, this is a super exciting potentially lifesaving breakthrough. The problem is that less than 5% of adult cancer patients take part in clinical trials.
Stacy Hanson is very excited about this potential vaccine and urges anyone who can to participate in the clinical trial. Although Stacy is currently battling breast cancer, she is not eligible for the trial, but she hopes that it can bring hope for her daughter.
When Stacy Hanson was 43 years old, she received some wonderful yet surprising news. She found out she was pregnant with her daughter, Lucy. She didn’t expect to get pregnant, and she considers Lucy her miracle child.
Just 2 years later, Stacy received some more surprising news, but this time it wasn’t surprising in a good way. She had breast cancer.
Stacy was scared, worried that she wouldn’t be able to see her daughter even enter kindergarten, but she endured chemo and successfully battled breast cancer, that is, until it came back as Stage 4 triple negative metastatic breast cancer.
Stacy is not eligible for the vaccine clinical trial because she is currently battling late stage breast cancer.
Dr. Saranya Chumsri explains who is eligible for the vaccine. “It’s for patients who already had breast cancer but, early stage, and the tumor has already been resected. Then we will vaccinate the patient to help reduce the risk of recurrence.”
Stacy found out that she inherited the breast cancer gene from her father, and it’s possible that Lucy could battle it one day too.
Stacy says, “Yes, I hope that in my lifetime, science catches up and I get 40, 50 years. I want that for myself. But more importantly, I want my daughter to have a life without cancer. I don’t want her to ever have to worry about cancer.”
For more details about the vaccine, watch the video below.
The clinical trial is currently being conducted by the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL. To learn more about this and other clinical trials they are offering, you can call 855-776-0015.
Do you know anyone who would be eligible for this clinical trial? Are you excited about a potential breast cancer vaccine?