Long Island breast cancer survivor in vaccine trial at Stony Brook

[00:00:00]Welcome back. A breast cancer vaccine that may prevent disease recurrence is now being tested worldwide and one of the sites enrolling new participants is on Long Island.

[00:00:09]>> Carolyn Gusoff spoke with one local survivor in that study who hopes the vaccine will become the new standard of care.

[00:00:16]>> Take a deep breath for me.

[00:00:18]>> Christina Amatrulo of Holbrook opted for a mammogram at age 35 out of caution.

[00:00:23]>> I didn't have any suspicions that anything was wrong. It was literally just a miracle that I ended up going when I did.

[00:00:29]>> She did not expect this result.

[00:00:31]>> That's a tumor.

[00:00:32]>> Her2-positive.

[00:00:34]>> An aggressive form of breast cancer.

[00:00:37]>> I was completely shocked. I was a phys ed teacher and health teacher, so I thought I was living a healthy lifestyle.

[00:00:44]>> To treat the fast-growing cancer, she underwent chemotherapy, surgery, radiation, and newer targeted chemo drugs. She's also enrolled in a promising study of a vaccine that may prevent the cancer from spreading.

[00:00:57]>> It would be huge.

[00:00:59]>> The worldwide clinical trial called Flamingo is enrolling 750 people. Stony Brook Cancer Center, the only Long Island site, is recruiting those with early-stage Her2-positive breast cancer.

[00:01:11]>> We inject a little piece of the Her2 protein into the body, which revs up the immune system, and we essentially educate the immune system to recognize the Her2 protein.

[00:01:22]>> Earlier studies showed recurrence rates dropped dramatically. If approved, it would be the first of its kind breast cancer vaccine.

[00:01:31]>> It would be a real um proof of concept that you can actually use your own immune system to surveil for cancer and for eradicate cancer.

[00:01:40]>> Amatrulo says her participation is her way of paying forward the science that's saving her life.

[00:01:46]>> Without people that contributed to research and people that went through clinical trials before me, I wouldn't be here.

[00:01:52]>> Study participants will spend 3 years getting periodic vaccines or the placebo. And if there's evidence that it is preventing recurrence the FDA could fast-track approval. In Stony Brook, Long Island, Carolyn Gusoff, CBS News, New York.

[00:02:08]>> And that vaccine is a series of 11 doses over the course of 3 years.