Does The Mayo Clinic Have A New Breast Cancer-Fighting Vaccine?

During 'Breast Cancer Awareness Month' particularly, this could be truly encouraging news.

Researchers at The Mayo Clinic have been testing a vaccine that we've heard has removed cancer cells in Lee Mercker, a breast cancer patient who had been diagnosed "DCIS stage 0." That means, thankfully, her cancer cells hadn't spread.

When she'd heard about the vaccine trial, Mercker had opted to be a part of it, rather than going directly for a lumpectomy or mastectomy, according to First Coast News. Although she would eventually go through with the mastectomy to make sure all of the cancer cells were removed, she was a part of something that could be truly a game-changer in the realm of cancer-fighting.

An oncologist at the Mayo Clinic, Dr. Saranya Chumsri, explained the vaccine is "supposed to stimulate a patient’s own immune response so that the immune cells like t-cells would go in and attack the cancer. It’s supposed to be just off the shelf, kind of similar to when you get the flu shot or pneumonia shot," reports RFDTV.com.

Subsequent patients also involved in the trial experienced positive results, as well.

Forbes.com reports that a Mayo Clinic investigator, Keith L. Knutson, Ph.D., said “it is reasonable to say that we could have a vaccine within eight years that may be available to patients through their pharmacy or their doctor."