A universal
vaccine against almost all types of cancer could be within sight,
new research showed today.
Although such
a breakthrough is still far away, American scientists now have
the first functional evidence that it may be possible.
They found
that a protein produced in all major human cancers can stimulate
the development of immune cells when used as the basis of a vaccine.
The immune
cells generated kill multiple, unrelated human cancer cells in
the test tube and also slow the growth of tumours in living mice.
As with vaccines
that prevent other diseases, the aim is to use a bit of the "bad"
protein, or antigen, to make the body recognise it as a target
which is then attacked with an army of immune cells.
Professor
Eli Gilboa, from Duke University Medical Centre in Durham, North
Carolina, who headed the research, said: "The thinking has
been that because every cancer is different - melanoma, breast,
etc. - that each cancer has its own specific set of antigens that
must be used for a vaccine.
"We're
looking for a universal antigen - one antigen to try to treat
every cancer patient."
The findings
were published today in the journal Nature Medicine.
Professor
Nick Lemoine from the Imperial Cancer Research Fund's Molecular
Oncology Unit raised concerns about the prospects for a vaccine.
He said: "The
idea that it might be possible to create a universal vaccine for
all cancers is appealing, but unlikely to be achieved because
there are so many different types of cancer."
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