Will cancer be treated through vaccines by 2030?

The scientists who were behind the creation of the revolutionary mRNA COVID vaccines are back at it again. Uğur Şahin and Özlem Türeci, the husband-and-wife team who co-founded BioNTech, the German firm that partnered with Pfizer to develop COVID vaccines, said that vaccines that could possibly fight cancer can become a reality by 2030. Professor Türeci told BBC how the mRNA technology could be used so that it could be restructured to attack cancerous cells. “We believe that this will happen, definitely, before 2030,” Şahin told the BBC. Let’s take a closer look at the breakthrough discovery. How will the vaccine work? Typically, an mRNA COVID vaccine works after taking genetic instructions from harmless spike proteins to eliminate the COVID virus in the body. According to a report by The Guardian, these instructions are taken up by cells which churn out the spike protein. The proteins, called antigens, then direct our immune system’s antibodies to what to look for and what to attack. According to Şahin and Türeci, the same approach can be mimicked in cancer vaccines in which the immune system will be readied in a way that it targets the cancer-causing cells instead of the COVID-19 virus. Rather than taking instructions to attack viruses, the cancer vaccines would provide genetic instructions to neutralise cancer antigens or proteins on the surfaces of tumour cells. BioNTech hopes to create treatments for bowel cancer, melanoma and other types of cancer. Professor Sahin said that if the cancer vaccine is proven to be effective, it may be widely available within just eight years. The German company started working on mRNA cancer vaccines even before the pandemic struck but its development was halted to produce COVID vaccines in the face of the global emergency. Now, the firm has several cancer vaccines that are undergoing clinical trials. Türeci said that the development and success of the Pfizer vaccine “gives back to our cancer work.” How can cancer vaccines be made? According to National Cancer Institute, vaccines to treat cancers can be made in three ways. Firstly, they can be made using a patient’s own tumour cells. This will enable the vaccine to cause immune responses against features that are unique to one’s cancer. In a second way, vaccines can be developed from tumour-associated antigens that are found on cancer cells of many people with a specific type of cancer. These kinds of vaccines cause an immune response in any patient whose cancer produces that particular antigen. Lastly, cancer vaccines can also be made from dendritic cells, which are a type of immune cell. These cells stimulate one’s immune system to respond to an antigen in tumour cells. What are the hurdles? No scientific or medical discovery is complete without hiccups. The same is the case for cancer vaccines. While the firm hopes to create a breakthrough with their discovery, both Şahin and Türeci are nevertheless sceptical. They say that the cancer cells that make up the tumours can be studded with a variety of different proteins. These different proteins will make it extremely difficult to make a vaccine that targets all of the cancer cells and no healthy tissues. Türeci told BBC, “As scientists we are always hesitant to say we will have a cure for cancer. We have a number of breakthroughs and we will continue to work on them.” Furthermore, in August this year, Moderna said it was suing BioNTech and Pfizer for patent infringement of its COVID vaccine. Regarding this Şahin said, “Our innovations are original. We have spent 20 years of research in developing this type of treatment and of course, we will fight for our intellectual property.” Are there vaccines that can prevent cancer? Yes. According to Mayo Clinic, human papillomavirus or HPV spreads via sexual contact and is linked to most cases of cervical cancer. But thankfully, there’s a vaccine to prevent its growth. Gardasil 9 is an HPV vaccine that has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration and can be used for both men and women. It can prevent most cases of cervical cancer if it’s administered before anyone contracts the virus that develops the cancerous cells. In September, India rolled out its first indigenously produced HPV vaccine called ‘CERVAVAC’. The HPV vaccine can also prevent the growth of vaginal and vulvar cancer. In addition to this, it can check the growth of genital warts, anal cancers and mouth throat, head and neck cancers. According to Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, there are vaccines available to prevent Hepatitis B, which is a type of cancer that affects the liver. The Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) vaccine is available for all age groups. With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.