.jpg)
.webp)
.png)
Kristen Dalhgren was living her dream as an NBC correspondent when she felt a dent in her breast ahead of her 47th birthday.
“A few years earlier I [had done] a story about how 1 in 6 women don’t have a lump when they get breast cancer and I knew this was something I needed to get checked out,” Dahlgren tells Rescripted. “The day after finding the dent I went on an assignment for NBC to cover a hurricane. I called an imaging center and asked if there were mammogram cancellations from people evacuating. I went in for imaging and they called me shortly after to tell me I most likely had breast cancer.”
After receiving her diagnosis — and treatment via chemotherapy, radiation, and a double mastectomy — Dahlgren knew she wanted to advocate for other breast cancer patients. Initially, she assumed drawing awareness of the importance of early detection would be her venue for that.
But plans took an unexpected turn.
“Fast forward a few years post-treatment and through my reporting, I was connected to a doctor working on breast cancer vaccines,” says Dahlgren. “I couldn't believe I had never heard of such a thing! I was a medical reporter and a survivor, and I had never heard vaccines were in development. When I got on the call, I was blown away by the science. I couldn’t believe we weren’t doing more to accelerate [it].”
Dahlgren founded Cancer Vaccine Coalition, a non-profit focused on cancer vaccine development, particularly a breast cancer vaccine, which could be available to many of us within our lifetimes…at least if Dahlgren and her team have any say.
A vaccine for breast cancer? Here’s how it could work
When we think of vaccines, we typically think of viruses. We don’t often consider a vaccine a line of defense against cancer. But the science is sound, according to Dahlgren.
“Breast cancer vaccines work by training the immune system to recognize, attack, and kill cancer cells and/or the proteins associated with cancer cell development,” she says.
This will work in women who already have breast cancer, as well as in those who are looking to prevent the disease.
Therapeutic vaccines are used post-diagnosis
“Therapeutic vaccines are used for existing breast cancer patients or breast cancer survivors. These vaccines teach the immune system to kill cancer cells and eliminate active disease for current breast cancer patients. For survivors, breast cancer vaccines may be used to intercept disease and prevent recurrence by fighting off microscopic cancer cells that could have been missed with other forms of treatments.”
She adds that breast cancer vaccines could potentially reduce tumor growth and provide long-term immune memory to reduce the risk of cancer.
There are preventative vaccines in development as well
Clinical trials for preventive vaccines are underway in high-risk patients with genetic mutations like BRCA 1+ and BRCA 2+. "Some researchers are also studying breast cancer vaccines that could prevent the disease altogether in the general population,” says Dahlgren.
How would those vaccines work?
“Preventative vaccines prime the immune system before cancer develops by targeting specific proteins or antigens found in early-stage breast cancer cells but not normal cells,” explains Dahlgren. “While these vaccines are still in clinical trials, they hold enormous potential to change the future of breast cancer prevention and treatment, and getting these trials funded is why the Cancer Vaccine Coalition exists.”
Breast cancer vaccines may not eradicate the disease completely, but they could reduce breast cancer cases, recurrences, and deaths.
Who will have access to a breast cancer vaccine?
Currently, trials are ongoing for women with BRCA gene mutations, patients battling the disease, and survivors. The possibility of a widely available vaccine for all women exists, but it's going to take time, money, and additional research for us to get there.
Will millennial and Gen Z women see a breast vaccine on the market in their lifetimes?
“Right now, it’s not a matter of if cancer vaccines will become the new frontier in cancer care but when,” says Dahlgren. “At the current rate, doctors and scientists expect a breast cancer vaccine to come to market in 25 to 30 years. However, by supporting the Cancer Vaccine Coalition, you are supporting the acceleration of science. With the right funding and support, we can have breast cancer vaccines to market in the next 5 to 10 years.”
“We have seen in other situations how collaboration and government support can accelerate vaccine development, taking research that typically spans a decade and achieving results in months. That is what we are doing at the Cancer Vaccine Coalition,” adds Dahlgren.
Where are we in the process right now?
“Individuals are currently receiving breast cancer vaccines as part of small clinical trials. Our goal is to raise money to get more clinical trials underway, build out more robust clinical trials, and expand clinical trials so more people can enroll and get access to these vaccines,” says Dahlgren.
Clinical trials, as we all know, can take a long time.
“Clinical trials go through three phases before they are brought to market,” adds Dahlgren. “Right now, many of the breast cancer vaccines are in phase 1 and phase 2 clinical trials. Traditionally, Cancer vaccines have struggled to cross what researchers and scientists call the cancer vaccine “Valley of Death”, [which is] the funding gap between early-stage research and large-scale clinical trials. Without funding, many promising vaccines may never reach patients. Cancer Vaccine Coalition (CVC) aims to bridge that gap.
Funding these ventures is worthwhile — from both a human and a financial standpoint
Obviously, improving the treatment and prevention of breast cancer is an incredibly worthy endeavor. This breakthrough feels so promising for women's health, representing a way for women to take control of their risk of dying from one of the most pressing health issues they face.
But there’s more than just human value here. There’s financial value as well.
“Breast cancer treatment costs the U.S. over $29 billion annually,” says Dahlgren. "For a fraction of that cost, we can develop treatment vaccines and eventually even prevent the disease altogether, saving millions of lives and reducing financial burdens.”
“There’s a misconception that we have breast cancer under control. We don’t: 20-30% of early disease comes back as metastatic. 114 people die every day and our standard of care is the same treatment that’s been used for decades, amputation, toxic chemotherapy, and damaging radiation,” she adds. “Someone said to me recently, ‘If we crashed a commercial jetliner every day, we would figure out a better way to fly a plane. 114 deaths due to breast cancer is the equivalent of a small commercial jetliner. We need to figure out a better way to fly the plane.’”
Zara Hanawalt is a freelance journalist and mom of twins. She's written for outlets like Parents, MarieClaire, Elle, Cosmopolitan, Motherly, and many others. In her (admittedly limited!) free time, she enjoys cooking, reading, trying new restaurants, and traveling with her family.
