What are cancer vaccines and have scientists finally found a cure?

What are cancer vaccines? Cancer vaccines are a form of immunotherapy. Unlike vaccines that protect from an infection, such as the Covid-19 jab, cancer vaccines treat people who already have the disease. They are designed to help the patient’s immune system recognise and then kill cancer cells – and prevent them from coming back.

How are cancer vaccines made? The jabs are custom built for each person, typically in just a few weeks. To make them, a sample of a patient’s tumour is removed during surgery, followed by DNA sequencing and in some cases the use of artificial intelligence. The result is a personalised anti-cancer jab specific to that patient’s tumour.

How do they help fight cancer? The cancer vaccines work by sending an instruction or blueprint to the patient’s cells to produce an antigen or protein that can distinguish cancer cells from normal cells. The jabs stimulate the immune system to act. The immune system makes antibodies that can recognise and attack the harmless versions of the disease.

Once the patient’s body has made these antibodies it can recognise the disease if returns. What types of cancer can they treat? Scientists are studying many different types of cancer vaccines and how they might work in different forms of cancer. More research is needed to get a full picture of how well the vaccines work and which cancers they could treat.

Experts believe they could be effective in a range of cancers, including but not limited to colorectal, lung,.