Duke Health

We all have damaged cells, and our body has robust, built-in systems to detect and destroy damaged or mutated cells before they grow into tumors. Cancer vaccines promote that response and encourage the immune system to go after and destroy cancer cells. 

As part of our ongoing Conversations in Cancer video series, Dr. Diane Reidy Lagunes, a medical oncologist at Duke Health, talks to Dr. Zachary Hartman, a researcher with the Duke Cancer Institute, about cancer vaccines, what they are, how they work, and what’s on the horizon.

Emily DePetris was diagnosed with liver disease over a decade ago. In 2024, she underwent a liver transplant at Duke Health and is amazed at how good she feels now. These days, DePetris helps families make decisions about organ donation when their loved ones are at the end of life. “There isn’t a day that I don’t push myself to do better, be better, because I was given this amazing second chance at life,” she said.

In 2014, Mickey Whyte of Siler City had both ankles replaced. Fast forward eight years, and the pain in his left ankle was so intense that he was having problems walking. Following a revision total ankle replacement at Duke Health, he’s back to his favorite pastimes of hunting and fishing. “I can do everything I could before,” Whyte said.