BioNTech, that’s the developer of the Covid vaccine some of us got some years ago.
Now, they are testing a “vaccine” that will try to target the immune system of a lung cancer patient to attack cancer cells. We are living in the future!
This press release uses a patient in the UK, but the whole trial program comprises 130 patients in 7 countries.
Strange to call that vaccine. So far vaccine has to be applied before one falls ill of what ever the vaccine is against.
Sound more like a remedy to me. As such I wish them luck, cancer is a nasty illness.
Seems correct to me:
Vaccine:
a substance used to stimulate immunity to a particular infectious disease or pathogen
There are lots of clinical trials for various cancers around - some with very impressive results.
If anyone has a relative suffering from an “incurable cancer”, it’s worth looking around for any such trials. Their own oncologist may (sadly) not be aware of such trials.
Someone I am close to found a trial in London for a rare cancer - for their partner - on a Facebook page! They contacted the doctor directly and got accepted on the trial.
Unfortunately although they did start the trial, at that stage they were too far gone and passed away shortly afterwards.
I wouldn’t class cancer as either an infectious disease or pathogen so I tend to agree with Curley and say vaccine isn’t really the right term for it in the true definition of the term.
It presents a marker to the immune system, which is then stimulated to respond in defense. What else would you call it?
The investigational mRNA cancer immunotherapy for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) – known as BNT116 – utilises a messenger RNA (mRNA) to present common tumour markers from NSCLC to the patient’s immune system, with the aim of helping the immune system recognise and fight cancer cells expressing these markers.
The tobacco companies should get their wallets out and sponsor this!
Fair point - I assumed it was because cancer is infectious within a body in that it spreads around the body but the science community as, despite the definition being, as you say, incorrect, decided to coin the term “Cancer vaccine” so if anything is amiss, it’s that the definition is out of date.
What are vaccines to treat cancer?
Researchers are looking at vaccines as a possible treatment for cancer.
In the same way that vaccines work against diseases, the vaccines are made to recognise proteins that are on particular cancer cells.
An antigen is a substance that triggers the immune system to respond against it. For example, a virus has antigens on its surface which triggers the immune system to attack it. Body cells and cancer cells also have antigens on them.
Tumour associated antigens are proteins found in cancer cells. Normal cells either don’t have these antigens, or if they do, they have a much smaller amount.
Cancer treatment vaccines aim to help your immune system recognise these antigens. And to attack and destroy the cancer cells that have them.
This was featured on Michael Mosley’s “Wonders of the Human Body” (Ep1) part of which I watched last night. Will watch again in full, but yeah, this sounds like an interesting development, whether we call it a vaccine or not.
Another medical advancement that will contribute to an aging and over population.
You’d just roll over and die, would you?
Probably not, because on a personal level it is emotional to want to continue to live long and healthy. But rationally, all medical advances are leading to age imbalances and overpopulation. All these gains will be lost when our eco-systems collapse due to unsustainable impact of humans.
4 posts were split to a new topic: Population decline and collapse
Today they are treating people with lung cancer to measure the effect.
Presumably in the future, they could give this vaccine to healthy people to stop them from getting this form of cancer.
It targets a common element of this cancer so nothing specific to individuals. The big question is if it is used as a preventative then how long will the immune effect last?
The guinea pigs! All for big money. Theres a court case underway agant BionTech for the damage their covid vaccine caused. Good luck!
There is another way to accomplish this for many (most). Efforts to help the addicts and by encouraging nicotine pushers to get into other businesses.
Unfortunately also non-smokers get lung cancer. So hopefully that vaccine can help all.
Thats why I said many (most?).
Yes, and many of those non-smokers do because they have to live with smokers or have (in the past) worked in a closed environment with heavy smokers.
So Bowlie’s point about stopping the addicts helps everyone.
Helping the addicts. Addiction is a terrible thing.