Cancer Vaccine
Cancer Vaccine Therapy
Vaccines are medications that help the immune system of the body. They can instruct the immune system to recognize and eliminate potentially harmful cells and bacteria. Throughout your life, you will receive a variety of immunizations to guard against common diseases. There are many vaccines available for both cancer treatment and cancer prevention. Additionally, cancer immunizations are readily available.
Vaccine Therapy for Cancer
Some vaccines can shield healthy individuals from contracting specific virus-related malignancies. These vaccines protect the body from these viruses, like flu or chicken pox immunizations. Only those who receive this vaccination before contracting the virus will benefit.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved two categories of cancer vaccines:
HPV vaccination: Human papillomavirus is prevented with the vaccine (HPV). This virus may bring on some cancers if it stays in the body for an extended period. The FDA permits HPV vaccinations to guard against:
- Cervical, vaginal, and vulvar cancers
- Anal cancer
- Genital warts
Additionally, HPV can cause diseases for which the FDA has not yet given vaccine approval, such as oral cancer.
Hepatitis B vaccine: Immunization against the hepatitis B virus. This virus brings on liver cancer.
Are there vaccines that treat cancer?
The immunizations that cure pre-existing cancer are known as treatment vaccines or therapeutic vaccines. These vaccines fall within the category of immunotherapy, a cancer treatment. They try to boost the immune system of the body to fight cancer. Treatment vaccines operate in many ways. People can:
- Prevent cancer from returning!
- Once therapy is finished, eliminate any cancer cells that remain in the body.
- Prevent the growth or spread of a tumor
How do cancer treatment vaccines or vaccines for cervical cancer work?
Antigens are substances found on the surface of cells that the body interprets as dangerous. Antigens are attacked by the immune system, which typically eliminates them. The immune system now has a “remember” of those antigens to help in future defense against them.
Vaccines for cancer treatment improve the immune system’s capacity to recognize and eliminate antigens. Cancer-specific antigens are molecules that cancer cells frequently carry on their surface, but healthy cells do not. These molecules function as antigens when administered to a person via a vaccine. These chemicals instruct the immune system to seek out and eliminate cancer cells that possess these compounds.
There are some tailored cancer vaccines. This kind of vaccine is created using tumor samples surgically removed from the patient. It indicates that they are individual items. Other cancer vaccines do not target specific cancer antigens unique to an individual and are not tailored. Doctors administer these vaccines to patients whose malignancies contain such antigens on the surface of the tumor cells.
Questions to ask your healthcare team
Speak with your medical team if you want to find out more about enrolling in a clinical trial for a cancer vaccine. You may wish to inquire about the following:
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- Is a vaccination being tested in a clinical trial for my particular cancer type and stage?
- Where is the site of the clinical trial?
- Describe the vaccination and explain how it works.
- How are vaccines created? Will the vaccine require the removal of my tumor tissue or blood cells? How will it be eliminated?
- How often and how will I be given the vaccine?
- For how long will I require the vaccination?
- What adverse effects are possible?
- Can I get the vaccine with other medical procedures like chemotherapy or radiation therapy?
- What are additional cancer treatments available?
For best treatment, you should approach the one and only Cancer vaccine specialist in Ranchi: Dr. Satish Sharma. He’s known for providing patients with best-in-class treatment along with immense care!