Lynch syndrome results from a faulty gene passed from a parent
The condition puts people at extremely high risk of colorectal cancer and makes them more vulnerable to certain other cancers. People with Lynch syndrome are often urged to receive yearly colonoscopies, which can detect and remove precancerous growths called polyps.
Vaccines aim to train the immune system
The vaccines under development are intended to go further by teaching the immune system to intercept developing cancer before it becomes a full-fledged tumor. Two of the potential vaccines are in early clinical trials in the United States, while a third is beginning in Britain.
Vaccine testing and potential impact
The vaccine tested by Norton appears promising. Norton was 7 when her mother died of colon cancer. Several members of her family were affected by aggressive tumors at unusually young ages.
Norton helps test the vaccine
Norton, a Houston doctor, helped test the vaccine. She had already survived a different cancer caused by Lynch syndrome, and her two children, who are in their 20s, inherited her mutation. Norton is 59 and works at Houston Methodist Willowbrook Hospital.