When Beata Halassy discovered her stage 3 breast cancer had returned despite a mastectomy, she couldn’t bring herself to undergo another round of harsh chemotherapy.
Now a 53-year-old infectious disease research expert, she has taken matters into her own hands by drawing on her decades of virology expertise to create an experimental vaccine and injecting it directly into a tumor in her chest. I decided to solve it.
She combined the measles virus with a flu-like pathogen to create a powerful shot that directly attacks tumors and boosts the immune system to kill remaining cancer cells.
Dr. Halacy knew his DIY experiment risked forming deadly blood clots in the lungs or causing other unexpected and fatal reactions. But miraculously it worked and she has been cancer-free and in remission for four years.
But the success of the treatment raised ethical questions that Dr. Halacy and other virus experts had to grapple with.
She published her brilliant results in a magazine vaccine Experts fear this could lead to copycats.
“The short- and mid-term results of this unconventional treatment without significant toxicity were undoubtedly beneficial,” Dr. Halacy wrote.
Dr. Beata Halacy developed the virus in the lab and injected it directly into breast tumors. The tumor has shrunk and detached from the pectoral muscle, allowing doctors to remove it more easily.
Latest breast cancer she suffered in 2020 It was stage 3it is considered progressive with a high chance of spreading to other parts of the body.
Dr. Halacy has spent years researching viruses and, as a cancer survivor, became interested in the emerging field of oncolytic virotherapy (OVT).
This experimental treatment involves genetically engineering a virus to infect cancer cells, replicate within them, and kill them, while leaving healthy cells behind.
After being injected at the site of cancer, it invades tumor cells and ruptures, exposing their contents to the immune system.
Dying cancer cells release substances that help the immune system recognize and attack cancer.
Dr. Halacy designed the vaccine cocktail in his laboratory at the University of Zagreb in Croatia.
She chose to use measles virus and an influenza-like virus known as VSV. Both of these viruses have been shown to infect the cell types from which her tumor originates.
Dr. Halacy has previously worked with both viruses, and they also have excellent safety profiles.
The measles strain she chose is widely used in pediatric vaccines, and the VSV strain causes mild flu-like symptoms.
Dr. Halacy created the viral material himself, and a colleague administered the treatment over a two-month period.
Her oncologist agreed to monitor her while she self-treated so that she could be switched to conventional chemotherapy if her symptoms worsened.
However, the approach worked, and the tumor shrank, softened, and detached from the pectoral muscle and skin it had invaded.
“It certainly triggered an immune response,” Dr. Halacy said.
The treatment shrank the tumor and detached it from the pectoral muscle to which it was attached, making it easier for doctors to remove it. She then took anti-cancer drugs to prevent the disease from recurring.
For years, Dr. Halacy tried to get her research published in medical journals, but received one rejection after another.
She said: “The main concern has always been ethical issues.”
The three panels show how the tumor (measured by the two vertical lines) shrinks over time, making it easier to remove by surgery.
Injecting the virus directly into the tumor stimulated a strong immune response and helped shrink the tumor. The immune system recognizes virus-infected tumor cells as foreign and begins attacking them.
Only one type of OVT has been approved by federal health regulators, and it is designed to treat metastatic melanoma. However, there are still no approved treatments for breast cancer.
Dr. Halacy’s application is not approved for widespread use.
But oncologists and other researchers say this approach is risky for cancer patients in general, who may be more inclined to try experimental treatments.
Jacob Sharkow, a forensic researcher and medical ethics specialist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, said he wishes the ethical implications had been discussed alongside the case reports to better understand the issue. Ta.
He added, “I think ultimately it falls within an ethical range, but it’s not an incident that can be generalized.”
It is unclear how many people are taking OVT.
Still, an estimated 623,405 patients have breast, prostate, lung, colorectal, melanoma, or bladder cancer that has spread to other parts of the body and is in stage 4 or 5. Masu. These people may benefit from OVT.
