Oct 17, 2022 07:49
For a long time, the dream of a vaccine that would protect healthy people with an increased risk of cancer seemed out of reach. The essence of the dream is that there is a vaccine that enables the immune system to mobilize its antibodies to destroy any malignant cancer cell… just as the vaccine performs its task against the disease for which it was developed.
However, that dream seemed almost impossible to achieve, even for researchers who have been studying this thorny issue for years, even decades.
Finally, there was a glimmer of hope that the desired vaccine would be found. The first cancer vaccine applies to people who are at increased risk of developing pancreatic cancer, which is one of the most difficult types of cancer, and which is difficult to treat after it has started.
Other researchers are developing a vaccine for people with an increased risk of colon and breast cancer.
Scientists say that all this research is still in its infancy. It is not unlikely that you will fail to reach the desired serum.
However, what the researchers got from their experiments on laboratory animals is very encouraging.
The same applies to the results of preliminary studies in humans; What opened a wide aperture of hope for those working in those studies and research.
The New York Times quoted Sachet Shukla, director of the Cancer Vaccine Development Program at the Anderson Cancer Center, as saying that he sees no reason to prevent the effectiveness of an anti-cancer vaccine, if it is given to an individual in the early stages of cancer.
He added that anti-cancer vaccines are an idea whose time has come.
The newspaper quoted the supervisor of a study related to the creation of a vaccine against breast cancer, Dr. Susan Domshek, that many thought that working on the idea of a vaccine against cancer was crazy.
But she believes that it is now possible to provide a vaccine and protection for every person who will contract cancer, or who has a defect in his genes that will lead to cancer.
One of the Johns Hopkins University experts stated that in the normal case, a person can avoid developing pancreatic cancer by undergoing pancreatectomy.
But this can lead to severe diabetes, and serious problems with digestion.
Doctors say that in many cases, precancerous tumors may not develop into true cancer if left alone.
But if that tumor turns into a real cancer, the chances of surviving from it are very slim.
However, these tumors provide a valuable opportunity to test potential cancer vaccines.
With regard to pancreatic cancer, scientists say that the first change in normal cells on the way to their transformation into a malignant disease is a mutation in a known cancer gene called KRAS.
After that, mutations occur in six genes that lead to the occurrence of pancreatic cancer in the majority of patients.
That is why Johns Hopkins University scientists considered developing a vaccine that could train memory cells (T cells, the white blood cells of the immune system), to recognize and destroy cells affected by these mutations immediately.
And those scientists tried to run the first trial of their vaccine, with the participation of 12 patients who were diagnosed with early stages of pancreatic cancer, and who underwent surgery.
Although their cancer was discovered early, and even though they were treated surgically, the chances of that cancerous growth returning to them ranged between 70% and 80% within a few years.
When such cancer recurs, it is usually fatal.
After about two years, the cancer did not recur in these patients. Scientists have moved to a completely different new stage: to vaccinate people to prevent the formation of a cancerous tumor from its foundation.
The new vaccine appeared to be safe. It triggers a reaction by the immune system against genetic mutations that cause cancer to grow.
The doctors said they were largely satisfied with the findings of their experiments and studies.
But they say only time will tell whether this vaccine will prevent cancer for the rest of one’s life.
Scientists believe that despite the slow progress in these areas, they now know the “road map” to a cancer vaccine.
That is, they now believe that this vaccine can succeed, and that it can succeed in intercepting cancer cells before they turn into a cancerous tumor that threatens human life.
Source: agencies
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