Cancer Research UK new immunotherapy discovery, has an effective cancer vaccine

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   Nathanvilleposted 8 years ago

   Cancer Research UK new immunotherapy discovery, has an effective cancer vaccine finally been found?
   
   Cancer Research UK (a not-for-profit organisation that funds cancer research) today published their results in New Scientist of a new immunotherapy discovery that could lead to a cancer vaccine protecting patients from cancer for life.
   
   Although previous claims by other researchers have proved to be false hopes, and although it's early days, their research results does prove promising; and their is speculation and high hopes that the NHS (National Health Service) in Britain could run trials on patients within two years.
   
   If it is the long awaited break through it could save millions of lives!

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   bradmasterOCcalposted 8 years ago

   But these responses – where patients see their symptoms disappear – don’t necessarily mean a patient has been cured. And without a scientific paper to back up the reports, we don’t yet have the full details on these responses rates – notably exactly how they were measured.

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      Nathanvilleposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      I agree, early days. But another step closer to finding a cancer vaccine?  Unlike other cancer treatments, if successful could give lifelong protection e.g. getting the body to make its own anti-bodies, as we do for treatment of other deceases.

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   Nathanvilleposted 8 years ago

   The article published in New Scientist is no more than a research study, and no claims are being made at this time of a magical cure e.g. more research is required and field studies need to be done.
   
   However, there is excitement in the field because unlike previous attempts of steering the immune system to kill tumours by targeting their antigens in general (with limited success), the researchers at the University College of London have developed a way of finding unique markers (antigens) within the core of the tumour itself (its ‘Achilles heel’), which could potentially be used to enable the development of bespoke vaccines e.g. to  train the immune system to recognise and target all related cancer cells, and like anti-bodies for other deceases once the body knows how to make a specific anti-body it gives lifelong protection against that particular illness.

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