A new kind of weapon in the fight against breast cancer is moving closer to reality, a vaccine designed not only to treat the disease, but to help prevent it. For the first time, we’re hearing directly from one of the few women in the country who received that vaccine as part of a clinical trial, offering a rare, personal glimpse into what could become a breakthrough for future patients.
It began with something small. A nudge. A quiet moment that almost slipped by unnoticed.
“He’s great, he’s the best, best boy ever,” said Chase Johnson.
Johnson still smiles when she talks about her dog, Cato. But behind that smile is a story that shifted the course of her life.
“So, my dog Cato actually poked me in the left side of my breast where the mass was and kind of whined at me and was generally acting anxious, and then he did it a second time and it hurt, which caused me to kind of investigate why it hurt and I found the lump. I think if he hadn’t done that I probably would not be here today,” Johnson said.
That moment in 2021 led to a discovery that would change everything. What was first believed to be a harmless cyst became something far more serious. After seeking a second opinion, Chase was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer at just 31 years old, one of the most aggressive forms of the disease. There was no family history, no warning signs, no reason to expect it.
“When I was diagnosed I was already stage 2B, so it had already progressed you know more than I would have liked, obviously,” Johnson said.
Treatment began quickly. Chemotherapy became part of her routine. But Chase didn’t stop there. With a researcher’s mindset, she started searching for more options, digging into emerging science and new possibilities. That search led her to a clinical trial at Cleveland Clinic, where she became one of only 35 participants in the first phase of a breast cancer vaccine study.
“I think initially I was nervous and I think everyone probably would be nervous or should be at the prospect of participating in a clinical trial and something that is unproven but I’m a researcher and I really dug into a lot of the research,” Johnson said.
“Really the credit should go to people like Chase who allow us to effectively do experiments on their bodies,” said Dr. Amit Kumar.
Kumar, CEO of Anixa Biosciences, is helping lead the development of this vaccine in partnership with Cleveland Clinic. The goal is ambitious. Not just to treat breast cancer, but to stop it before it starts, and to prevent it from coming back.
“This vaccine is designed to not only treat patients who have cancer, but also prevent cancer arising. Prevent recurrence as well as prevent cancer in women who’ve never had cancer before,” said Kumar.
Early results from the first phase are encouraging. Every participant showed some level of an immune response, with only minor side effects.
“That was a very, very powerful finding for phase one,” said Kumar.
The idea is simple in concept, but powerful in execution. Train the body to recognize cancer cells and fight them off before they can take hold.
“When we say we had an immune response, that means when we gave the vaccine to a patient, the vaccine taught the white blood cells how to identify the cancer,” Kumar explained.
Now, the research moves forward. Phase two will include up to 200 women, expanding the study while continuing to measure both safety and effectiveness. All participants will receive their standard of care for treatment. Some will also receive the vaccine, while others will receive a placebo, allowing researchers to better understand its true impact.
“We’re actually going to use the Keytruda and vaccine on patients to see if that does better than just Keytruda itself,” Kumar said.
For Chase, the results feel personal. Today, she is five years in remission, beyond the window when recurrence is most likely. She looks back at everything that brought her here, from a dog’s instinct to a groundbreaking trial, and sees a path she never expected to walk.
“I can give a non scientific patient perspective, which is I feel very strongly that the vaccine has made a huge difference in keeping me in remission,” Johnson said.
There is still more work to be done. More patients to study. More data to gather. But for researchers, the vision is already taking shape, something far bigger than a single trial or a single breakthrough.
“We would love to give this shot to every woman in the world, who is worried about breast cancer, just like we’ve done with polio, small pox, measles and so forth and eliminate, I mean, this is a big vision, but eliminate breast cancer as a disease,” Kumar said.
The next phase of the trial is expected to begin later this year. What happens there will help determine how quickly this research can move forward. If successful, it could lead to a final phase involving thousands, and eventually, a future where a breast cancer diagnosis is no longer something to fear, but something we know how to prevent.
