Breast cancer accounts for one in three new female cancers every year in the United States. While detection and treatments have improved, the quest for more effective and less invasive solutions is far from over.
In a recent conversation on Tuesday Talks, hosted by Cure CEO Seema Kumar, Kristen Dahlgren, an award-winning journalist and cancer survivor, shared her battle with breast cancer and her efforts to accelerate the development of cancer vaccines through her organization, the Cancer Vaccine Coalition (CVC).
A Survivor’s Determination
Dahlgren’s life was turned upside down when she was diagnosed with a form of breast cancer known as invasive ductal carcinoma in 2019.
"I had just had a mammogram a few months earlier," she said.
But it wasn’t a lump that alerted her; it was a dent. Her keen awareness, stemming from a previous news story she reported, led her to trust her instincts and seek immediate medical attention.
Dahlgren endured aggressive treatment, including chemotherapy, a double mastectomy, and radiation. She described the emotional weight of constantly fearing the cancer’s return. "Every day, I worry about it coming back," she said.
But her journey didn’t stop there. Fueled by a newfound purpose, Dahlgren has become a leading advocate to accelerate breast cancer vaccines, both the kind designed to treat the disease and the kind to prevent it.
The Cancer Vaccine Coalition: Breaking Down Barriers
As the founder and CEO of the CVC, Dahlgren has made it her mission to amplify the work of scientists and researchers developing cancer vaccines, including those designed to prevent disease or as treatments.
"Very quickly, we got this group of scientists together… the world’s top breast cancer and vaccine oncologists,” Dahlgren said. “They're working together, talking, sharing what they're working on in the hopes that things could move faster. We got them out of their silos.”
Building awareness of the groundbreaking research in cancer vaccines is also a high priority for Dahlgren. When more people are informed, involvement in the efforts to discover and develop new solutions expands.
"I'm doing what I can to shout it from the rooftops, to bring in people like you, like Cure, and try and build this coalition because all of us are impacted by cancer," she said, highlighting the collective effort needed to make these vaccines a reality.
Dahlgren’s coalition targets every aspect of vaccine development, from funding and research to regulatory approval and manufacturing.
"We really are attacking this from just every front that we can to support the science, to build an ecosystem where these vaccines can move through much quicker," she said.
Cancer Vaccines on the Horizon
For many, the idea of a cancer vaccine still seems like a distant possibility, but Dahlgren insists that it’s closer than most realize. For example, researchers at the University of Washington are working on DNA vaccines, and Cleveland Clinic is developing a vaccine targeting triple-negative breast cancer, one of the deadliest forms of the disease.
Dahlgren explained that in a small study of women with HER2-positive breast cancer, those who received the optimal dose of the vaccine had a survival rate of 85 percent after more than a decade.
"That kind of progress is astounding, but it’s not enough to simply rely on small studies. We need large-scale trials to push these vaccines to market," she said.
Dahlgren is particularly excited about the role that mRNA technology, which played a critical role in developing COVID-19 vaccines, could play in cancer vaccine research.
"The mRNA vaccines that were so helpful for the COVID vaccine were actually first in development for cancer vaccines. And so that was pivoted, to develop the COVID vaccine. And so now people are going back to the cancer vaccine research," she said.
The Future of Cancer Treatment: A Tipping Point
As Dahlgren advocates for cancer vaccines, she envisions a future where chemotherapy and mastectomies are no longer the standard course of treatment.
"It’s time to lean into this new technology, these new treatment options, potentially prevention. You saw my little girl there [referring to her daughter in a video presentation]. I would love to have a vaccine so she doesn’t have to worry about this disease and doesn’t have to go through what I did," she said.
Dahlgren believes the scientific community is on the brink of a major milestone.
"This moment in particular is being called a tipping point because we have a few things. We have a better understanding of the immune system than we ever have. We have a better understanding of what antigens we can target on a cancer, in order to train the immune system to seek that out and to eliminate it," she said.
The road ahead is not without its challenges, however. Dahlgren pointed out that securing funding for complex and costly phase two and three clinical trials. But she remains optimistic, pushing for greater awareness and financial support to ensure these vaccines make it through the regulatory process.
A Call to Action
Dahlgren’s message is clear: "We can’t afford to wait."
She calls on the public, healthcare professionals and policymakers to rally behind cancer vaccines in the same way the world united for COVID-19 vaccines.
"Every day, I hear from people who need this now," she said, urging individuals to advocate for faster research, more funding, and increased collaboration across industries. "We’re trying to build this coalition of the top scientists, but really we need to get the top minds in so many different areas together on this initiative… in finance, in communications and in the regulatory [arena]."
The CVC is working to make dramatic leaps forward in treating breast cancer and other forms of the disease because, in her words, "Together, we can give everyone the shot they deserve—a shot at life without cancer."
