Wednesday

Stephanie's Miraculous Story

Remember Chelsea and Adam's wedding? So much fun, so very many special touches, and so many truly wonderful people. One of those wonderful people was the maid of honor, Stephanie Lipscomb. Stephanie's story is incredible. She had brain cancer and was part of a clinical trial with Duke. Stephanie's results? Truly miraculous. Chelsea and her Maid of Honor's story touches my heart so much. I simply must share Chelsea's letter to me and the article from WSPA, Greenville, SC.


  Hey Corey!!! I am still in love with our wedding pictures. They are beautiful and you are such a    
  wonderful photographer!! I remember telling you before the wedding, but had to share Stephanie's 
  story with you that was on 60 minutes Sunday and local news today. Thank you for capturing so 
  many special moments of us during the wedding. I will forever treasure them thanks to you!! 

GREENVILLE, S.C. (WSPA) — The FDA is calling a clinical trial that killed a cancerous brain tumor in an Upstate woman a medical breakthrough. Stephanie Lipscomb was first diagnosed with brain cancer in July of 2011, at just 20 years old, during her sophomore year of college at USC Upstate. Lipscomb received chemotherapy, radiation, and had a craniotomy to remove the tumor.
In April of 2012, the cancer returned. Stage 4 Glioblastoma. The most aggressive brain cancer, that has no cure.  Stephanie’s options were limited. She couldn’t have any more radiation, and her tumor didn’t respond well to chemo the first time. Her doctors at Duke University suggested a clinical trial that had never been tried on humans, that had done well on primates. The process would use a re-engineered polio virus, injecting it directly into the brain. The polio attacked the tumor, first causing it to swell, then awakening the immune system to attack the tumor. Stephanie was the first human the new trial would be used on.
Within months, Stephanie’s tumor disappeared.
Stephanie, now a nurse, has now been cancer free for 4 years, and considers herself cured. Dozens of patients responded positively to the trial and because of the success with Stephanie, the FDA has deemed the trial a medical breakthrough. This allows researchers to have private companies raise money for more research and allow the trial to someday be opened up to all cancers.
bride and maid of honor | Corey Cagle Photography