Cancer Vaccine that can Cure 97% of Tumor from Mice Approved for Human Trial

Yes, you read that right. As per researchers of Stanford University, a vaccine they tested on mice has worked well in curing around 97% of the tumors in mice and is ready for human trial. According to SFGate. the human trial is scheduled to be conducted on 35 people suffering from lymphoma before the year ends.

The study was earlier tested on mice with cancers ranging from colon, breast and lymphoma. The results were welcoming, because this treatment cured around 87 mice out of the 90. The best part is that tumors in some mice had spread through other parts of the body too and even then they could be cured.

As per the regional director of breast surgery at North-well Health Cancer Institute in Westchester, New York, even if the news was exciting enough, the results on animals might not be the same as that on humans. So, there is still a long way to go before the treatment works for particularly cancers other than lymphoma, viz. breast and colon.

Though it is called a vaccine, technically it ain’t. It is more of an immunotherapy. It is still given the name of a vaccine for a reason that is does contain a vaccine like injection. Also, as per the American society of clinical oncology, cancer vaccines can be used for referring treatment of cancer and preventing it from coming back. This vaccine involves the injection of the vaccine into the existing tumor. It does the role of reactivating the T cells. These T cells are responsible for infiltrating and attacking the cancer cells. But, as the tumor increases, the cancer tells suppress these T cells.
Immunotherapy is not something new though. It has been in practice for quite some time. A treatment called CAR t-cell therapy has been already approved some time back for leukemia as well as lymphoma. This therapy is about removing certain immune cells from the body and genetically engineer these cells so that they become capable of fighting cancer.

But, the advantage of this therapy over CAR T-cell therapy is that nothing from the body is to be removed or customized. Here it’s just targeted therapy where the doctors will be concentrating and attacking specific targets.

Though this study is one step forward in the direction to treat cancer but still it’s a long way to go.

Vydehi Institute of Oncology & Research Centre is one of the first centers in India to commission IGRT (Image guided radiation therapy) with respiratory gating apart from having other radiation equipment like High Dose Rate Brachytherapy (HDR).