Oct 13, 2008 5:34 pm US/Eastern
Woman Donates Her Body To Cancer Research
MILLERSVILLE, Md. (WJZ) ―
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With little time left, an Anne Arundel County woman is donating her cancer-ridden body to research.
With little time left, an Anne Arundel County woman is donating her cancer-ridden body to research.
Jessica Kartalija reports a clinical trial out of Johns Hopkins is giving hope to millions of women fighting breast cancer.
To her husband and two young children, 38-year-old Darby Steadman is a hero.
She was first diagnosed with breast cancer when she was 29. After undergoing treatment, she was told there was less than a one percent chance the cancer would return.
"I had a bilateral mastectomy and went through rehab and recuperation, and everything seemed fine until last summer," said Darby.
Darby's cancer returned to her lymph nodes, spread to her neck and metastasized in her vertebrae. She has stage four cancer.
"And we just looked at each other, and I was like, 'what does that mean? Is that like four out of ten? Four out of what,'" said Darby.
Stage four cancer patients usually have two years to live. Darby is using that time to participate in a therapeutic vaccine study conducted by Dr. Leisha Emens at Johns Hopkins.
"Idea is to use it as a tool to re-engineer the immune system in a way that it doesn't tolerate a breast cancer because that's normally what it does. And instead, it's re-educated to recognize changes in the cancer that is dangerous to the person," said Dr. Emens.
It means hours of experimental tests and the hope that the vaccine could buy her more time with her family.
"If you look at life as a blessing each and every day, what's 20 minutes to Hopkins and 20 minutes back," said Darby.
Forty-two women diagnosed with terminal breast cancer are participating in the study.
"It's something that is really unknown. They are giving up their time, which they know is limited, to do something that they know is perhaps not likely to help them and hopefully will help folks in the future," said Dr. Emens.
"In an incredible way, I am now able to take some of my time to give it to my children in the future with a drug that could possibly help them," said Darby.
For now, Dr. Emens is using the vaccine to fight cancer that has already spread. The goal is to develop a vaccine to prevent breast cancer altogether.
Until then, women like Darby will keep fighting.
"Just taking the time to truly appreciate everything that I have been given and just to realize life truly is a blessing. Every day can be just such a wonderful experience," said Darby.
More than 100 vaccines -- like the breast cancer vaccine Darby is using -- are being tested at Hopkins.
You can read more about the cancer vaccine trials and the women involved, this week in the Baltimore Sun.
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