Will There Be A Brain Cancer Vaccine Soon?

Vaccines are a good way to prevent and cure diseases. So it’s easy to understand why researchers are looking for different ways to end cancers that are as aggressive as brain cancer. But what if a brain cancer vaccine is already available?

A brain cancer diagnosis is not only a major blow to patients, but also to their families. The depression that some diagnosed patients can fall into causes anxiety and great discomfort, as the article Quality of life in patients with gliomas: The role of psychological variables states (Spanish link).

However, there may be light at the end of the tunnel. This is because several sources tell us that a vaccine could be the definitive solution for brain cancer. Find out below the expectations and how a brain cancer vaccine may help to eradicate the disease.

A brain cancer vaccine

The newspaper El País published a story in December 2018 about personalized vaccines for patients with brain cancer (Spanish link). It was developed in a study with a few participants who reported quite encouraging results.

However, the number of participants was quite small. Only 30 people took part in the study. That is why the researchers do not dare to claim that they have found the cure for this form of cancer. The researchers need to conduct further studies to demonstrate the veracity of the results.

Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy is a very relevant concept of this vaccine that experts have recently discovered. This term refers to the use of the body’s own defense system to attack brain cancer cells.

However, the researchers found that not all tumors are exactly the same, nor do all respond well to immunotherapy. For this reason, work has been done on so-called ‘precision immunotherapy’ to treat patients with glioblastoma.

Personalized Brain Cancer Vaccine

Glioblastoma is one of the cancers with a poor prognosis. Therefore, patients suffering from it at the time of the study required a personal vaccine to ensure positive results. However, how do experts make such an individual vaccine?

The best way to create a vaccine is by using the antigens from the patient’s own tumor. This promotes a much more effective immune response. The lymphocytes then manage to recognize the “bad” cells and destroy them.

During the study, it was found that the patients responded positively to the personalized vaccine and not to the generic vaccine. A generic brain cancer vaccine that is suitable for every type of tumor therefore does not work. To effectively fight brain cancer, the vaccine must be personalized.

Expectations about a brain cancer vaccine

While there is still a long way to go, experts are starting to pave the way for safer and more effective therapies. The progress experts are making in fighting different types of cancer, especially brain cancer, are quite encouraging.

This may also make you wonder whether it is feasible to do further research and create a personalized vaccine for everyone with brain cancer. Is this feasible? Could the insurance companies or the patients afford this personalized brain cancer vaccine?

It is also important to mention that the study failed to completely destroy the cancer of the people who suffered from it. However, it is important to emphasize that the patients suffered from a fairly aggressive cancer with a high mortality rate, despite the treatments they were receiving.

intermediate heading

What the vaccine did achieve was to increase their life expectancy. According to the newspaper El País, these patients normally live an average of 14 months after diagnosis.

However, the vaccine allowed this to increase to 29 months. It is undoubtedly an encouraging number, indicating that experts are on the right track and that a definitive cure may be near.

Various options are currently being explored to end this type of disease, which kills thousands of people every year. We hope that sooner or later we will hear the news about the development of a brain cancer vaccine that completely eradicates cancer.

Children, adults and the elderly suffer from different types of cancer. Going through chemotherapy and radiotherapy is an unpleasant experience that often comes with many side effects that we hope will soon end.

This is possible if an accessible, reliable and effective solution in the form of a brain cancer vaccine will be available. Do you think cancer will eventually be curable? Do you think this will also be feasible for more aggressive cancers like glioblastoma?