Asheville native gets final injections in groundbreaking cancer vaccine trial

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WTVD) -- An Asheville woman is wrapping up a groundbreaking trial for an experimental cancer vaccine.

For the sixth and final time, Catie King walked into her doctor's office Monday to get inoculated. She is one of 60 patients participating in the phase two trial.

"It's exciting to be a part of that first step process and watch it grow," King said.

The hope of the vaccine is to retrain the patient's immune system to recognize the cancer and fight it should it ever return.

"It provides people some hope," Riley Polk, the chief of staff at Elios Holdings, said. "Hope really is a big part of the healing process."

It will be another year before data from the trial can be analyzed.

Funding for the research comes from donors and investors. Patients don't pay a penny.