TAMPA, Fla. — A young mom was diagnosed with stage four metastatic breast cancer last year.
Doctors gave her five to seven years to live with standard care, and she decided that was not an option. That's when a doctor at Moffitt Cancer Center gave her another choice, something new – an experimental treatment – and she jumped on the opportunity.
“My cancer journey first started when I was pregnant with my second son in Birmingham, Alabama. I noticed a lump in my left breast, and I brought it up to the nurse practitioner overseeing my care,” said Dallas Carroll.
Carroll said months went by.
“I consistently brought it up, and it was always kind of pushed back that it was just normal hormonal changes,” said Carroll.
It wasn’t until a few days after she gave birth to her son that she received an ultrasound, a mammogram, and a biopsy on the same day. Doctors then confirmed her fear — she has breast cancer.
Then, by Dec. 17, it was confirmed stage four. So, it spread to my liver and bones,” said Carroll.
We met Carroll in between appointments at Moffitt Cancer Center. She moved to Florida with her family for treatment.
Watch Carroll talk about why she chose to get the vaccine
“They told me I could do standard care, which yielded five to seven years left to live. And as soon as I heard that, I decided that wasn’t going to work for me because that would put my youngest at five or seven years old. And my oldest is like eight. They need a mother longer than that. So I said no and Dr. Czerniecki said 'That he had a vaccine that he could try, and I would be the second patient.' And I said okay. I don’t care what it was. I was already going to do it,” said Carroll.
“We are using the person’s own immune system to treat their cancer,” said Dr. Brian Czerniecki, Chair of the Department of Breast Oncology at Moffitt Cancer Center. He explains the dendritic cell vaccine.
“It’s a cross. It’s a vaccine, but it’s also a cell therapy,” said Dr. Czerniecki.
“And the shot goes directly into the tumor?” asked St. Germain.
“That’s what we’ve found works best. In fact, if you give it even in the organ but not into the tumor, it doesn’t have the same effect as when it’s put in and mixed in the tumor microenvironment,” said Dr. Czerniecki.
Moffitt Cancer Center allowed ABC Action News special access into the lab where researchers are working on these personalized vaccines to learn about how they are created providing, we wouldn’t show anything that could compromise the scientific process.
“What it’s doing is reprogramming the area where the tumor is because when a tumor forms, it is not all cancer cells. It’s composed of a lot of other cells to help it. There are cells that are what we call stroma in there, and there are some immune cells that help it survive,” said Dr. Czerniecki.
He continued, “Now those cells get reprogrammed to be anticancer and when they get programmed that way, now they can go out to other places in the body and they are told oh anticancer, we will get rid of it wherever you see it.”
Carroll is one of two young women with stage 4 HER2-positive breast cancer receiving this treatment – but doctors have already done trials with other subtypes of breast cancer.
“What are some of the results you are seeing?” asked St. Germain.
“We are seeing breast tumors disappear in the breast. The primary tumors go away even without chemotherapy,” said Dr. Czerniecki.
“I would get those [vaccines] weekly, and literally, I could feel the tumor getting smaller each week,” said Carroll.
She had two rounds, then chemotherapy, and is now waiting to get approval for a third round.
“The spots on my liver are completely gone,” said Carroll.
She continued, “Dr. Czerniecki thinks that with the next round of vaccines that he can clear the rest of the tumor. And if not, he can just do a lumpectomy which normally stage four doesn’t really have any surgical options.”
“What is it like for you to be able to have that option when this was not on the table a year ago?” asked St. Germain.
“It’s so surreal. Like sometimes, I am still like laying in bed with my eyes open at night, and I’m like, what is my life like? How did I get so fortunate but so unlucky at the same time with this diagnosis?” said Carroll.
For Dr. Czerniecki – the future of this science is bright.
“The realization that we might be able to start treating at least this subset of breast cancer patients without chemotherapy, who normally get pretty high doses of chemotherapy, is pretty remarkable if you think about it,” said Dr. Czerniecki.
For Carroll, this is another step in her fight to be here for her family.
“And to be able to still be here with my kids, it’s all I want. I just really, really need to be here with them because they have a lot of people that love them, but I want to love them and take care of them,” said Carroll.
Watch Carroll's advice to others
Another big part of Carroll’s story is how she advocated for herself. She said she knew something was wrong and did not stop until she finally found a doctor who would listen. Her message to others is, “You know your body” and “if you’re not going to advocate for you, no one else will.”
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