Discover How New Cancer Vaccines Work to Save Millions of Lives!

How many deaths has COVID-19 caused as of February 01, 2023? 6,762,458 people as of 03:51 GMT, according to Worldometer.

And the pandemic is not over. The virus continues to mutate, and no one can tell for certain when this global health crisis will end.

But, despite the havoc that this pandemic has wrought, there’s something that scientists have gained from the experience which may soon benefit humanity and minimize, if not eradicate, one of the leading causes of mortality in the world. A disease that’s dreaded by everyone because it’s associated with pain and agony that tears the heart with savagery – the heart of the afflicted and their loved ones.

With the fast-paced creation of COVID-19 vaccines through mRNA technology, this has given hope to cancer specialists that they could also take a giant step forward.

For a long time, cancer vaccines could only offer treatment for the disease — so unlike other vaccines, which are preventative in nature.

As National Geographic elucidated, “Typically, vaccines help protect us against diseases. But cancer vaccines are different; they are potential therapies for treating people who already have cancer. These treatments have been years in the making, and failures have been frequent.”

But in the same statement, Nat Geo added, “but they’re now starting to show some promise.”

Yes, new cancer vaccines are being developed, guided by the new knowledge in mRNA technology.

Cellular immunologist Stephen Schoenberger at the La Jolla Institute for Immunology in San Diego explained that all cancer-treating vaccines depend on proteins that are called tumor-associated antigens. It’s a molecule that stimulates T-cells to destroy cancerous cells when it’s either more ubiquitous on the surface of these diseased cells compared to healthy cells, or it exists in a mutated or abnormal form.

He further stated that “cancer biologists identify these tumor antigens with sophisticated sequencing technology that spots specific differences between the DNA or RNA of a healthy cell versus a cancer cell. The trick is to understand which mutations will generate a T cell response and would make a good target for a vaccine.”

Schoenberger’s team selects antigens based on how a patient responds to the cancer. After identifying antigens that are distinct from a person’s tumor cells, he combines tumor-specific antigens from different patients to develop vaccines. Other researchers also have their own ways of formulating vaccines that will be used not only to treat cancers but to prevent these killer diseases.

Yes, it’s a long struggle. But there’s always light at the end of the tunnel.