top of page

A Vaccine for Cancer?

  • Chinmay Bakshi
  • Feb 5, 2016
  • 1 min read

Vaccines are utilized for a plethora of diseases throughout the world today, from measles to influenza. But no effective vaccines have ever been created for cancer...yet. The latest research shows that a new potential vaccine may be on the rise, but instead of it being intended for patients who do not have cancer, the vaccine would be intended as a means for curing people who DO have cancer.

The vaccine works by one of my favorite topics to write about: immunotherapy. Our immune system holds an immense power to eradicate that diseases that plague our body, and the new generation of cancer vaccines use exactly that methodology. Proposed vaccines would work by exposing the immune system to the RNA of cancerous cells, in order for the immune system to selectively target the cancerous cells.

The main problem with today's forms of therapy is that there is absolutely no way to recognize and differentiate between cancerous and normal tissue, and thus, treatments such as hormone therapy and chemotherapy prove to be so harmful to the body. Through a vaccine approach, it could be possible to help our own body's disease fighting powerhouse recognize which cells are dangerous, and which cells are not.

While a cancer vaccine has been proven to be quite efficient in mice, tests have not indicated success in humans yet. However, we can look forward to experimentation in humans in the near future.

Perhaps one day, we may find doctors prescribing cancer vaccines to patients, instead of relying on the dangerous therapies we do today.


 
 
 

Comments


William Mason High School

Mason, Ohio

Medical Scholars Club at Mason

  • Facebook Clean Grey
  • Twitter Clean Grey
  • LinkedIn Clean Grey
bottom of page