Scientists develop vaccine to cure deadly cancer

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The survival rate for patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer is grim. The average survival time is up to 3 and a half years.

Scientists may have a cure in the form of a vaccine thanks to scientists at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

Researchers studied 16 patients with pancreatic cancer. They administered an mRNA vaccine. The vaccine activated immunoprotective T-cells that fought the cancer in 8 patients after tumors were removed which kept the cancer at bay. 

Doctors say the vaccines are tailored to patients’ needs depending on what stage they are in, which adds to the vaccine’s effectiveness. 

“Designing an effective cancer vaccine is difficult. Because cancer arises from our own cells, it is much harder for the immune system to distinguish proteins in cancer as foreign. compared with proteins in pathogens like viruses,” lead researcher, Dr. Vinod Balachandran, said in a previous interview. “Important advances in cancer biology and genetic sequencing now make it possible to design vaccines that can tell the difference.”

It’s unclear when the treatment will be available to the public.