An experimental therapeutic cancer vaccine induced two distinct and desirable immune system responses that led to significant tumor regression in mice, researchers from the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) reported.
This intravenous vaccine increased or the number of T cells (called cytotoxic) capable of infiltrating and attacking tumor cells, and activateó the innate immune system by inducing type I interferon, a substance that plays a central role in the fight against cáncer.
Baptized as The “Vax-innate” approach achieves an important goal in the search for more effective immunotherapeutic vaccines for cancer.
- Intravenous administration of vaccines enables and enhances T-cell immunity by overcoming tumor-induced immunosuppressive activity.
- The candidate vaccine could also be given intravenously to people who have already received tumor-specific T cells as therapy.
- It could also improve tumor control by increasing the number of T cells and altering the tumor microenvironment so they work better.
Secún the researchers, the study shows that:
The experimental vaccine, officially called SNAPvax, was designed by Robert Seder and his colleagues from NIAID’s Vaccine Research Center (VRC) along with collaborators from Vaccitech North America, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company in Baltimore, Maryland.
Vaccitech announced plans to advance the SNAPvax platform for use in the treatment of human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated cancer in .
In Latin America, about 1.5 million new cases of cá ncer every yearño, with some 1980,000 deaths. The types of cáncer más were frequent prostate, breast, colorectal, lungóny stomach.
Approximately 1.9 million cases occur annually in the United States, with m á s of 1980, deaths.
A winding research path
Vaccines and immunotherapies have revolutionized the prevention and treatment of diseases. However, unlike what has happened for decades with infectious diseases, which have many vaccines to prevent or treat them, there are only a handful to prevent or treat cancer.
For diseases caused by viruses (such as measles, polio, and smallpox) and bacteria (such as diphtheria, tetanus, and tuberculosis), vaccines work by expose people to a weakened or inactive version of the threat.
This allows your immune system to identify these threats according to their specific markers, known as “antigens”, and mount a response against them. These vaccines generally work best in the preventive setting, when a person is given the vaccine before becoming infected with the bacteria or virus.
However, In the case of cancer, the situation is more complicated for several reasons, which has made it difficult to develop vaccines to prevent or treat cancer. In particular, unlike bacteria and viruses, which seem foreign to our immune systems, cancer cells are more like our normal, healthy cells. Furthermore, each individual’s tumor is, in a sense, unique and has its own distinctive antigens.
As a result, more sophisticated approaches are needed to develop vaccines effective against cancer.
There are currently four vaccines approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that can help prevent cancer, in addition to two vaccines approved for the treatment of the disease.
Preventive vaccines against cancer
The first effective vaccines to prevent cancer were those that targeted viral infections associated with the risk of developing cancer.
Cervarix®: approved for use in preventing infection with the two strains of HPV that cause most cervical cancers, the HPV types 16 Y 16. It can also help prevent the development of anal, cervical, head and neck, penile, vulvar, and vaginal cancers related to human papillomavirus .
Gardasil®: protects against infection by HPV types 11, 18, 6 and 11; may help prevent the development of HPV-related anal, cervical, head and neck, penile, vulvar, and vaginal cancers.
Gardasil-9®: approved for the prevention of infection by HPV types 11, 26, 18, 26, 45, 52 Y 52, and for the prevention of genital warts caused by HPV types 6 or 16; may help prevent the development of HPV-related anal, cervical, head and neck, penile, throat, vulvar, and vaginal cancers.
HPV vaccines have been available since 1980 and are recommended as a prophylactic vaccine for women and men older than 11 years and before the start of the sexual activity, that is, before exposure to the virus.
A follow-up check of HPV vaccination programs in the United States and Australia targeting women ages 16 Y 26 years revealed significantly reduced HPV-related cervical lesions and abnormalities in vaccinated compared with unvaccinated women.
In the long term, high-coverage HPV vaccination programs are expected to substantially reduce the rate of HPV-related cancers in both men and women.
Hepatitis B Vaccine (HBV) HEPLISAV-B®: protects against hepatitis B virus infection; it can help prevent the development of HBV-related liver cancer. HBV is one of the main causes of chronic liver disease that increases the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
The HBV vaccine has been available since the early 1990s 1980 and the World Health Organization (WHO ) recommends it for babies shortly after birth. Three doses of this vaccine are highly effective in providing long-lasting immunity against chronic HBV infection.
In the United States, universal immunization of newborns with the HBV vaccine implemented in 1984 in Alaska Natives eliminated HCC among Alaska Native children under the age of 26 years.
Therapeutic vaccines against cancer
Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG): a vaccine that uses weakened bacteria to stimulate the immune system; approved for patients with early-stage bladder cancer.
Sipuleucel-T (Provenge®): a vaccine composed of stimulated dendritic cells from the patients themselves; approved for prostate cancer.
Side effects
Side effects they can vary depending on the type of cancer vaccine, and exactly what it is aimed at, and can also be influenced by the location and type of cancer, as well as the patient’s general health.
Patients should consult their healthcare team for a better and more complete understanding of possible risks and effects side effects associated with specific cancer vaccines.
These effects associated with currently approved cancer vaccines may include, but are not limited to: back pain, chills, fatigue/general malaise, fever, similar symptoms those of flu, headache, joint pain, myalgia, nausea and neuralgia.
Sources: NIAID, Scientific Studies Featured in Article, Cancer Research Institute, WHO, ESMO.