HOUSTON, Texas (KCBD) – Clinical trials are underway in Houston to test a vaccine that could protect people with Lynch syndrome from developing certain cancers in the future.<\/p>\n
Lynch syndrome is a genetic disorder that puts those who carry it at high risk of developing cancer \u2014 including multiple cancers and different types of cancer. The National Institutes of Health indicates 1 in every 279 people in the United States carries the genetic mutation, though most are unaware they have it.<\/p>\n
Experimental vaccine in Houston trials<\/p>\n
An OB\/GYN at Houston Methodist who has Lynch syndrome is among those in the study group testing the vaccine. Dr. Stacy Norton said she also has a strong family history of cancer, including in her mother and sister.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt 47, I actually had a what I thought at the time was going to be a risk reductive hysterectomy in time to find out I already had stage 1 uterine cancer,\u201d Norton said.<\/p>\n
Norton has since received a second dose of the experimental vaccine. Researchers hope the vaccine will teach the immune system to attack abnormal clumps of cells before they turn into cancer.<\/p>\n
Norton said her July 30, 2024, colonoscopy showed results she had not seen before.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the first time ever I\u2019ve had a colonoscopy with no polyps, which was huge for me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Randy Christian\u2019s update<\/p>\n
Former Lubbock City Councilman Randy Christian has Lynch syndrome and has spent years raising awareness about the disorder, including highlighting his family\u2019s history of cancer.<\/p>\n
Christian has survived multiple cancers due to Lynch syndrome. In February, he said he had decided to stop cancer treatment and transition to hospice care for pain control.<\/p>\n
Six months after entering hospice, Christian said his pain remains controlled by medication. He shared photos this week and noted that a visit from his grandchildren to Lubbock last week was, in his words, perhaps the best medicine of all.<\/p>\n
Awareness of Lynch syndrome is considered important because regular screenings are the best way to detect new cancers and treat them early.<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 KCBD. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOUSTON, Texas (KCBD) – Clinical trials are underway in Houston to test a vaccine that could protect people…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":405268,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[168,170,169],"class_list":["post-405267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-lubbock","tag-lubbock","tag-lubbock-headlines","tag-lubbock-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=405267"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405267\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/405268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=405267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=405267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=405267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}