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Holly LaFevers, an attorney living with stage IV metastatic breast cancer, will talk about her role in an experimental breast cancer vaccine trial at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 18, at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Mountain Home.
The church is hosting the talk for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. LaFevers is a member of the congregation.
She is enrolled in a Phase II clinical trial of STEMVAC at the University of Washington in Seattle. According to the announcement, she is one of about 40 participants nationwide.
STEMVAC is a DNA-based vaccine developed at the University of Washington’s Cancer Vaccine Institute. It targets five proteins found on breast cancer stem cells, which researchers believe help drive chemotherapy resistance, spread and recurrence, and it is meant to train the immune system to recognize and attack those cells.
The institute launched two Phase II trials in 2025 testing the vaccine alongside chemotherapy or hormone therapy in patients with metastatic breast cancer. Participants receive a series of priming doses followed by boosters, along with their standard treatment.
LaFevers said volunteering was an easy decision, and that she hopes her participation helps researchers improve treatment for people who come after her.
“For many of us in the trial, this isn’t just about our own diagnosis,” she said. “It’s about helping researchers develop treatments that may one day save the lives of our children, grandchildren, and countless others who face cancer.”
Therapeutic cancer vaccines remain an early field. Researchers hope they will eventually become a tool for treating certain cancers, reducing recurrences and possibly preventing cancer in people at high risk, but significant research remains before that happens.
LaFevers said she wants her story to encourage others to support clinical research and to consider enrolling in a trial when it makes sense for them.
“Medical breakthroughs don’t happen by accident,” she said. “They happen because patients, researchers, and physicians work together. I’m honored to play a small part in that process.”
“Cancer has touched nearly every family,” she added. “Research is how we turn hope into progress.”
St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church is at 511 Coley Drive.
