Cancer vaccine 'cure': Three terminal patients put in remission by experimental shot - Daily Mail

After a 20-plus-year battle with cancer and 12 brutal rounds of surgery and treatment, Stephanie Gangi was ready to give up.

They were given a vaccine — developed at the famous Mount Sinai hospital in Manhattan, New York — that rapidly melts away the primary tumor and teaches the body to hunt and kill cancer cells that have spread elsewhere.

She said: ‘It's hard to even wrap my head around it. I have had cancer for a very long time so it's not just snap my fingers and have it not be present for me.

Dr Thomas Marron — who is part of the team that have devoted the last decade to creating the vaccine — said ‘it was like winning the lottery' when he saw the scan showing Ms Gangi's adrenal tumor had gone. .

It contains a higher dose of a naturally occurring protein that rapidly multiplies levels of dendritic cells in the body - also known as 'professor' cells. They kill the tumor and teach T cells in the body to be on the lookout for rogue cancer cells that have spread elsewhere.

The new vaccine is among hundreds of experimental cancer vaccines and medicines in early trials.

Firstly, four small doses of radiation over two days kill some of the tumor cells.

They will destroy the tumor cells and teach the T cells what to be on the lookout for.

The T cells will then look for other tumor cells in the body.

The vaccine is injected into an existing tumor in the patient’s body, and teaches the immune system to recognize and kill not only that tumor, but also tumors elsewhere in the body.

First, patients receive four small doses of radiation over two days to kill some cancerous tumor cells.

The ‘professor’ cells will gobble up the tumor, and then teach the T cells what to be on the lookout for.

With the knowledge of spotting and killing patient's tumors, the T cells will travel around the body and destroy any other tumor cells they come across.  .

This is an FDA-approved immunotherapy treatment, which takes the brakes off the body’s immune system and allows it to kill tumor cells. .

The chemicals involved are also cheap to make. Dr Brody said: 'The ones we use cost pennies to dollars.' Although technically a vaccine, the treatment in its current form is given in 17 doses and alongside eight immunotherapy injections.

She is pictured on the right in 2012, two years before she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Dr Marron told DailyMail.com: 'You use that to create a vaccine that will hopefully teach your immune system to recognize and kill not only that tumor you’re treating but also tumors elsewhere in the body.

The second stimulant activates the dendritic, or 'professor' cells, which then instruct T cells, the immune system’s soldiers, to kill cancer cells and spare non-cancer cells. .

This immune army learns to recognize features of the tumor cells so it can seek them out and destroy them throughout the body, essentially turning the tumor into a cancer vaccine factory. .

With the knowledge of how to spot and kill patient's tumors, the T cells will travel around the body and destroy any other tumor cells they come across.  .

This is an FDA-approved immunotherapy treatment, which takes the brakes off the body’s immune system and allows it to kill tumor cells. .

Dr Marron said: ‘[Ms Gangi] had a huge tumor.

After she received the vaccine treatment, he said: ‘By the time that we did the first PET scan, the tumor on the adrenal gland was gone entirely. ?

But Dr Brody said his vaccine is ‘profoundly safer’ than other cancer therapies.

Dr Marron said: ‘Most patients will have received chemotherapy in the past, especially the breast cancer and the head and neck patients.

Stephanie Gangi, 66, who was 'ready to give up' after 23-year cancer battle.

Author Stephanie Gangi had tried 12 different types of treatment, but nothing would completely shift her cancer.

In her mid-40s, Stephanie Gangi was diagnosed with breast cancer from a routine mammogram.

She said: ‘I thought it over and I talked to my kids and I said, I’m 66 and I've been dealing with this for so long and I've done every single thing successfully and it's kept me going for 20-plus years.’.

She was injected into a tumor on her sternum, where the most active cancer was.

She said: ‘I had a tumor that was starting to show on my chest, so much so that I would no longer wear a t-shirt.

Ms Gangi said the side effects were ‘terrible’ and ‘I wanted to quit a million times’.

She said: ‘The fatigue was profound.

She tried to keep things as normal as possible and continued working throughout her cancer treatment, but she said the fatigue from the vaccine therapy was 'profound'.

Despite her body’s positive reaction to the treatment, Ms Gangi said she does not feel completely cured.

She added: ‘I have had cancer for a very long time so it's not just snap my fingers and have it not be present for me

She said: ‘I have no pain so I'm not taking medication for it which is fabulous

The vaccine treatment cleared his cancer and he has been in complete remission ever since

Anna Bochenski was first diagnosed with breast cancer eight years ago at the age of 43

She had surgery to remove a tumor in her right breast, but the cancer came back in a nearby spot just a couple of weeks later

She said: ‘I went through every possible chemo

She said she would ‘absolutely’ recommend the treatment to a friend, adding: ‘If I didn’t take the clinical trial, I would have been dead in 2021.’