When Will The Brain Cancer Vaccine Be Released?

Vaccines are excellent ways to prevent and cure disease. Thus, it is understandable why researchers are looking for different ways to end aggressive cancers, such as brain cancer. Is the brain cancer vaccine already in place?

A diagnosis of brain cancer is a serious blow not only to patients but also to their families. Many diagnosed patients fall into depression, as mentioned in the article Quality of life in patients with gliomas: The role of psychological variables.

But maybe there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. This is due to the fact that several sources inform us that a vaccine could be the definitive solution for brain cancer. Below, find out what the researchers expect and how this vaccine will work to eradicate the disease.

The brain cancer vaccine

The newspaper El País published in December 2018 an article that talked about personalized vaccines for patients suffering from brain cancer. There was a study with several participants, which reported quite encouraging results.

However, because the number of participants was quite small, researchers do not dare to say that they found the cure for this type of cancer. They must carry out further studies to ensure the veracity of the evidence.

Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy is an extremely relevant concept in the case of this vaccine that experts have recently discovered. This term refers to the use of the body’s own means of defense to target and attack brain cancer.

However, the researchers found that not all tumors are the same and do not respond as well to immunotherapy treatment. For this reason, “precision immunotherapy” has been used to treat patients with glioblastoma.

Personalized vaccine

Glioblastoma is one of the lowest prognostic cancers. Therefore, patients need a personalized vaccine for favorable results. But how do experts do this?

The best way is to design a vaccine with the patient’s own tumor antigen. This promotes a much more effective immune response. Lymphocytes are able to recognize “bad” cells and destroy them.

In the study, the researchers found that patients responded favorably to the personalized vaccine rather than the generic one. The generic vaccine for any type of tumor does not work. To end brain cancer, the vaccine must be personalized.

Expectations for brain cancer

The progress that experts are making in studying different types of cancer, and especially brain cancer, is quite encouraging. However, only 30 people participated in the study mentioned in this article.

This may make you wonder if it is feasible to study and create a personalized vaccine for each person with brain cancer. Is it feasible? Could people afford it?

It is important to mention that the specialists did not succeed in destroying the cancer of the studied persons. Patients had an aggressive type of cancer with a high mortality rate, despite the treatments they received.

But specialists have managed to increase the life expectancy of patients. According to the newspaper El País, these patients normally live for 14 months. However, the vaccine allowed this number to increase to 29 months. Undoubtedly, it is an encouraging aspect, which indicates that the experts are on the right track and that, most likely, the final cure is near.

Currently, researchers continue to study various possibilities to end these types of diseases that kill thousands of people every year. Hopefully, sooner or later, we will hear the news about a vaccine that completely eliminates cancer.

Children, adults and the elderly suffer from various types of cancer. Undergoing chemotherapy and radiation therapy is a difficult experience.

Do you think that oncological diseases will eventually have a cure? Do you think this will be feasible for more aggressive cancers, such as glioblastoma?