Vinod Balachandran, Founding Director of The Olayan Center for Cancer Vaccines at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, shared Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center’s post on X, adding:
“This is why we do the work! We’re hopeful that we can build on this progress and allow more patients to access these promising treatments.”
Quoting Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center’s post:
“Donna was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer at age 66 when she and her husband were visiting one of their daughters in Australia. When they returned to the U.S., they immediately came to MSK for care, where she learned she was eligible for an investigational vaccine trial, to prevent pancreatic cancer from returning after surgery.
MSK hepatopancreatobiliary surgeon Dr. Jeffrey Drebin, physician-scientist Vinod Balachandran, and medical oncologist Eileen M O’Reilly walked Donna through each step.
‘They described how they would take part of my tumor to make a personalized vaccine, and it sounded amazing,’ Donna says. ‘My husband and I had a moment of concern about delaying chemotherapy, but all the doctors made me feel so comfortable that we took the leap of faith and said, ‘Go for it.’’
Over the next few months, Donna received an immunotherapy drug and eight doses of the vaccine, followed by chemotherapy, and then a final vaccine dose. Today, Donna is 72 and recently celebrated her 50th anniversary with her husband in Sicily and spends as much time as she can with her daughters and six grandchildren.
Learn more about this clinical trial, presented at the 2026 American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting.”
More posts featuring Vinod Balachandran.
