Dr. Nora Disis (CVI Director) was featured in a New York Times article this week. Dr. Disis shares the promise of our STEMVAC vaccine for cancer intervention and the future of cancer vaccines in general. The article also featured cancer vaccine work of other researchers.
In the article, Dr. Disis discusses her goal to help individuals diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), commonly known as precancer or stage 0 breast cancer. These individuals sometimes have aggressive treatment to prevent the development of breast cancer. Dr. Disis hopes to have a vaccine replace these harsher treatments. The STEMVAC vaccine targets cancer stem cells that cause metastasis, drug resistance, and cancer recurrence. Dr. Disis discussed plans to try the vaccine in patients with DCIS or atypical ductal hyperplasia with the hopes of reducing or eliminating cancer lesions before surgery.
Dr. Disis stated: "I really think we will see a few vaccines approved for clinic in the next five years." She also shared that vaccines to prevent recurrence of cancer will likely be the first to be approved, before we can move onto vaccines for cancer prevention.
Read the full New York Times article: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/10/health/cancer-vaccines.html