Researchers throughout the nation are making progress toward vaccines that train healthy immune systems to eliminate signs of cancer before it develops, writes Brianna Abbott for The Wall Street Journal.
Some vaccines are in early trials for people with inherited genetic mutations that put them a greater risk for cancer, while others are designed to destroy precancerous lesions to stop full-blown disease.
Penn Medicine is one of the institutions that are making these efforts.
There, researchers are testing a DNA vaccine followed by a small electric shock to propel the DNA into cells.
The DNA is used to make an enzyme called telomerase, which creates a protein overabundant in various cancers. The vaccine also includes a drug meant to alert the immune system to the threat of cancer.
The vaccine is currently being tested for people with inherited BRCA gene mutations, which increase the odds of breast and ovarian cancers, among other cancers.
Sara Walker, a Philadelphia school psychologist, found out she was a BRCA2 carrier in 2018 and recently got four shots over four months starting last summer. Her only side effect was a sore arm.
Dr. Robert Vonderheide, director of Penn Medicine’s Abramson Cancer Center, said the work on the vaccines could extend to more cancers and risk factors.
Read more about the cancer-prevention vaccines in The Wall Street Journal.
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