TAMPA, Fla. — Nearly one year ago, Tampa Bay 28 Anchor Lauren St. Germain brought viewers the story of Dallas Carroll. She’s a young mom here in Florida who was diagnosed with stage four metastatic breast cancer.
“They told me I could do standard care, which yielded five to seven years left to live. And as soon as I heard that, I decided that wasn’t going to work for me because that would put my youngest at five or seven years old. And my oldest is like eight. They need a mother longer than that. So I said no and Dr. Czerniecki said 'That he had a vaccine that he could try, and I would be the second patient.' And I said okay. I don’t care what it was. I was already going to do it,” said Carroll.
The dendritic cell vaccine therapy is a cross between a vaccine and cell therapy. Doctors use a person’s own immune system to treat their cancer. St. Germain stayed in touch with Carroll since the original story aired and sat down with her while she received treatment at Moffitt Cancer Center to learn how the past year has gone.
When Tampa Bay 28 Anchor Lauren St Germain met Dallas Carroll in 2024, she learned she’s a mom willing to do anything to be alive for her kids.
“And to be able to still be here with my kids, it’s all I want. I just really, really need to be here with them because they have a lot of people that love them, but I want to love them and take care of them,” said Carroll in 2024.
“So, it’s been about a year since we’ve seen you. How have you been doing the past year?” asked St. Germain.
“I’m doing really well. It’s really exciting to be cancer-free. I was confident that I would get there, but it’s more surreal that I am actually here,” said Carroll.
“What was it like? Was it Dr. Czerniecki who told you that? What was it like when he told you that?” asked St. Germain.
“I just started crying and he looked at me like … well, duh. It’s really hard to believe sometimes, but I am still really, really excited. And I go back and forth with like how excited I am about it. I just want to stay there,” said Carroll.
St. Germain also sat down with Dr. Brian Czerniecki. He is the Chair of Breast Oncology at Moffitt Cancer Center. Dr. Czerniecki explains right now [as Tampa Bay 28 was shooting the interview] Carroll is getting two different antibodies against HER 2 protein. They aren’t chemotherapy – they just help the immune system. He also went further into what Carroll went through medically in the last year.
“So, the cancer that was spread beyond her breast …. in her lymph nodes and in her liver and bones … the liver and the bones tumors went away with the shots [dendritic cell vaccine therapy] that we gave her … She had some residual disease in her breast, so we did a bilateral mastectomy for her. Now, normally patients that are stage four don’t go to surgery. But, because we were able to render her disease gone, we were able to do surgery for her. She had the surgery done and some lymph nodes removed under her armpit. And now, she’s completely clean and free,” said Dr. Czerniecki.
Carroll says she will have scans every few months to make sure there is no evidence of disease and the immunotherapy every couple of weeks.
“Previous to my diagnosis, the prognosis was pretty much kind of set out like five to seven years. But now, after the vaccines, radiation, surgery and everything I’ve been through, there is no historical data to support what happens next. So, now I’m on the side of science that’s building the bridge as we go. So, no one can give me a timeline and I like that part better,” said Carroll.
“She’s pretty brave to do all that when she had, I guess you could look at it and say her back was against the wall, so she decided she wanted to do something for her kids and her family,” said Dr. Czerniecki.
Carroll took a risk and is now looking forward to even more reasons to celebrate this holiday season.
“My first Christmas with cancer was hard. And then last year was almost cancer-free. And this year is cancer-free. That’s a really good feeling,” said Carroll. “And I know most women don’t get this. So, I really hope they do, too.”
“Makes it that much more special to celebrate with your family,” said St. Germain.
“It made all the hard days worth it,” said Carroll.
Both times St. Germain met with Carroll, she reiterated how important it is for women to get checked. She fought for herself when something felt off and she was right. She says no matter your age, it is possible to have good days even after a cancer diagnosis, so if something feels off, speak up.
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