Cancer vaccines hope for the future

Possible cancer vaccine - 15th May 2023

Life saving cancer vaccines could be a reality by the end of the decade according to a leading pharmaceutical company. Research has been fast tracked due to the breakthroughs made for Covid vaccines. Experts say this is due to the unprecedented global response to the pandemic. 15 years of progress in vaccine research has been achieved in just 18 months.

The Covid vaccines are mRNA vaccines. Most vaccines introduce a small amount of the virus to the body to stimulate it to produce antibodies which fight the virus. But mRNA vaccines don’t expose people to the virus. Instead they produce a special protein which the body recognises as foreign and encourages it to produce other specialised antibodies.

Dr Paul Burton, chief medical officer for Moderna, one of the main producers of a Covid-19 vaccine, is working on the cancer vaccine. He predicts that the vaccine will be highly effective and instrumental in saving many lives.

Personalised vaccines use the patient’s DNA through a biopsy of their tumour. Doctors sequence the tissue from the biopsy and use an algorithm to identify the cancerous mutations in its DNA. Next, researchers create a molecule of mRNA with instructions for the cell to produce antigens which trigger an immune response. Later, the mRNA is injected into the patient, whose body translates it into proteins identical to the ones found on the cancer cells. Finally, the body’s immune system searches out and destroys the cancer cells matching the proteins.

Burton predicts there will be other breakthroughs such as a single injection which protects patients from multiple respiratory infections like Covid, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus. He added that mRNA therapies could be developed for rare diseases which were considered "undruggable".

However, experts warn if high level investment decreases due to economic worries or international conflicts, medicine’s bright future will be at risk.