PHOTO 1.

CONT. CANCER
VACCINE BASICS

an advantage & a risk

There’s a lot of advantages with

the creation of customized
vaccines. One of which is that
conventional chemo therapies
take a heavy toll on healthy cells
and aren’t always effective
against tumors.

However, there are risks and one of

them is the possibility of
mutations. As cancer cells
proliferate rapidly, many
chemotherapies target rapidly
dividing cells, causing toxicities
for proliferating non-cancerous
cells.
why is it hard to create?
There are numerous challenges with the
creation of these vaccines. But, these are the 4
main reasons as to why it is difficult to create it:

Cancer cells suppress the immune

system.
That is how the cancer is able to develop and
grow in the first place. Researchers are using
adjuvants in vaccines to try to fix this problem.

Cancer cells develop from a person’s

own healthy cells.
As a result, the cancer cells may not “look”
harmful to the immune system. The immune
system may ignore the cells instead of finding
and destroying them.

Larger or more advanced tumors are

hard to get rid of using only a vaccine.
This is one reason why doctors often give
people cancer vaccines with other treatments.

People who are sick or older can have

weak immune systems.
Their bodies may not be able to produce a strong
immune response after vaccination. It limits efficiency.
Some cancer treatments may damage the immune
system, limiting its ability to respond.

Because of these reasons,

some researchers think
cancer treatment vaccines
may work better for
smaller tumors or early-
stage cancers.

sources:
 the
human
genome
project:
Cancer Vaccines

submitted by:
oreta, Herrera, dy
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how is it useful?
cancer vaccines
Vaccines are created for the purpose of helping
the body to combat diseases. They function by
training the immune system to familiarize itself to
harmful substances so it may be able to
recognize then destroy it. There are two
categories for cancer vaccines (1) prevention
vaccines and (2) treatment vaccines.

cancer prevention
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has
already approved 2 types of cancer prevention
vaccines. The first is the HPV vaccine which
helps protect one from the human papillomavirus
(HPV). The human papillomavirus (HPV) if long-
lasting could be a cause for certain types of
cancer. This HPV vaccine aims to stop (1) genital
warts, (2) anal cancer, (3) cervical cancer, (4)
vaginal cancer, and (5) vulvar cancer. HPV could
also be a cause for other cancers that the FDA
has not approved a vaccine for. One of which is
oral cancer. However, there is a vaccine for
Hepatitis B. This vaccine will help in the
prevention of the hepatitis B virus infection. The
HBV has long term detrimental effects that could
even cause liver cancer. However, there is still a
need to consult your personal doctor or health
team regarding whether or not you actually need
these vaccinations.

cancer treatment
Therapeutic vaccines unlike cancer prevention
vaccines are used for immunotherapy. These
vaccines function is to amplify an individual’s
natural defenses against cancer. These vaccines
are used to treat people who have already been
diagnosed to have cancer. The purposes of the
vaccine are to (1) terminate tumors, (2) prevent
tumors from spreading, (3) block the cancer from
coming back, and (4) shatter any cancer cells after
treatments have ended. The creation of these
cancer vaccines are important because
“conventional chemotherapies take a heavy toll on
healthy cells and aren’t always effective against
tumors,” (MIT Technology Review, 2019).
 let's simplify
(a description of the science behind it, made easy.)

customized cancer vaccine:

The treatment incites the body’s
natural defenses to destroy only
cancer cells by identifying mutations
unique to each tumor. Scientists are
on the cusp of commercializing the
first personalized cancer vaccine. If it
works as hoped, the vaccine, which
triggers a person’s immune system
to identify a tumor by its unique
mutations, could effectively shut
down many types of cancers. By
using the body’s natural defenses to
,
selectively destroy only tumor cells
l
the vaccine, unlike conventiona
chemotherapies, limits damage to
healthy cells. The attacking immune
cells could also be vigilant in
r
spotting any stray cancer cells afte
the initial treatment.

cancer vaccine b
“To create an
individuali
asics:
vaccine, resea zed cancer
rchers must
cancer-specific identify
peptides called
neoantigens, the
n use a cell-, pro
nucleic acid–ba tein-, or
sed platform to
those neoantige deliver
ns to patients to
the immune sys prime
tem to attack th
Antigen-presenti e tumor.
ng cells su
dendritic cells ch as
(purple) interna
cancer-specific lize the
peptides (brigh
selected for a t green)
personalized c
vaccine and d ancer
isplay them o
surface with n their
the help of
histocompatibilit major
y complex
proteins. This trig (MHC)
gers T cells (blu
receptors that b e) with
ind those neoan
differentiate into tigens to
effector, or killer,
(green) that T cells
mobilize an
reaction agains immune
t cancer cells (o
(Hundal & Mardis range).”
, 2019).