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Can vaccines prevent cancer?

Can vaccines prevent cancer?
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CancerHealth
October 22, 2020

The perception of health benefits of vaccines

Since the end of the 18thcentury with the English doctor Edward Jenner, and especially one century later with the seminal works of French biologist Louis Pasteur, vaccination has proven its efficacy against some deadly infectious diseases. While some people might still object and dispute the positive benefits of vaccination, there is undeniable evidence to prove them wrong.

How do vaccines work?

Vaccination works through stimulation of the vaccinated organism’s immune system. The goal of anti-infectious vaccination is to produce antibodies that fight virus and/or bacteria. The immune system gets trained to recognize and destroy such harmful agents. In the recent years, doctors have begun considering the possibility of not only treating cancer, but also preventing it by using vaccines.1  

Can vaccines prevent cancer?

According to the World Health Organization, around 15% of all cancers in the world are attributed to chronic infections. These infections are caused by Helicobacter pylori (gastric cancer), human papilloma virus (or HPV – cervix carcinoma, anal and oral cancer), hepatitis B and C virus (liver cancer), and, in some parts of the world, Epstein-Barr virus (certain types of lymphomas). The principle is quite simple: if we can prevent these chronic infections through vaccination, we will prevent the consequence of these chronic infections, i.e., cancers. This is used when healthy subjects are given cancer prevention vaccines, which will protect the body from disease-causing viruses. Certain cancer prevention vaccines are already available against some carcinogenic viruses, such as hepatitis B or HPV. The recently published epidemiologic results have proven their efficacy. Just take a look at Australia; as early as 2007, Australia began providing the HPV vaccine to all the 12 to 13 year-old girls for free, and started doing the same for all boys in 2013. According to official data, the HPV rate among young women was reduced from 22 percent to 1 percent between 2005 and 2015. Furthermore, according to Michaela T. Hall’s recent article in TheLancet Public Health, HPV infection (and cervical cancers) should be completely eliminated within the next 20 years. Australia is on track to becoming the first country to eliminate cervical cancer, according to Karen Canfell, a cancer epidemiologist at Cancer Council NSW.  

Vaccines and immunotherapy

cancer immunotherapy vaccinesBesides using prevention vaccines, cancer immunotherapy is an example for using cancer therapeutic vaccines, also known as therapeutic vaccines, which include other types of vaccines against the cancers not related to infections. Treatment vaccines are given to patients already diagnosed with cancer, and they are complementary to other treatments, such as chemotherapy or radiation therapy. We now know that all cancer cells harbor specific antigens on their surface, and these antigens are quite specific to the cancer type. The goal of all the ongoing research is to elicit a specific immune reaction directed to these specific antigens. The final aim is the immune destruction of all these cancer cells. Some vaccines have already shown some efficacy, especially for metastatic melanoma.

Outlook: what does the future bring?

Currently in different stages of development, a lot of vaccines are still only available through clinical trials, partly because it is extremely hard to develop cancer treatment vaccines that are fully successful. There are still certain limitations, which the cancer treatment vaccines have to deal with, such as the often  suppressed immune system in cancer patients, or  the inadequacy of the immune system to recognize and subsequently destroy harmful cells – since cancer cells develop from an individual’s own healthy cells, the immune system may overlook healthy cells undergone changes.

Vaccination during cancer therapy

Many cancer specialists will recommend avoiding infectious vaccination during cancer therapy (chemo or radiation therapy) for two main reasons. The first one is quite obvious, as these cancer treatments will decrease the efficiency of the immune system as collateral “side effects.” Therefore,  it is quite useless to seek the elicitation of immune response through vaccination during these periods; the final result could be quite disappointing. The second reason is linked to the fact that some vaccines use a live, attenuated form of the virus. Even in its “attenuated” form, the virus can reveal itself to be dangerous inside an organism with a weakened immune system. It is beyond doubt that within the upcoming years we will see the emergence of new targeted therapies, and the development of new vaccines that, either alone or combined with existing therapies, will give new hopes to millions of cancer patients around the world.   Sources:
  • ASCO
  • Conquer Cancer Foundation
  • cancer.net
  • WHO
  • The dawn of vaccines for cancer prevention. Olivera Finn, Nature Reviews Immunology volume 18, pages 183–194, 2018
  • The Projected timeframe until cervical cancer elimination in Australia: a modeling study. Michaela T Hall, Karen Canfell et al. Published October 02, 2018
cancer
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¿Pueden las vacunas prevenir el cáncer?
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admin admin
Cancer
October 22, 2020

Los beneficios sanitarios de las vacunas

Desde finales del siglo XVIII, con el médico inglés Edward Jenner, y sobre todo un siglo después, con los trabajos fundamentales del biólogo francés Louis Pasteur, la vacunación ha demostrado su eficacia contra algunas enfermedades infecciosas mortales. Aunque algunas personas podrían seguir objetando y discutiendo los beneficios positivos de la vacunación, hay pruebas innegables que demuestran que pueden estar equivocadas.

¿Cómo funcionan las vacunas?

La vacunación funciona mediante la estimulación del sistema inmunitario del organismo vacunado. El objetivo de la vacunación anti infecciosa es producir anticuerpos que combaten los virus y/o las bacterias. El sistema inmunitario se entrena para reconocer y destruir esos agentes nocivos. En los últimos años, los médicos han empezado a considerar la posibilidad no sólo de tratar el cáncer, sino también de prevenirlo mediante el uso de vacunas.1

¿Pueden las vacunas prevenir el cáncer?

Según la Organización Mundial de la Salud, alrededor del 15% de todos los cánceres del mundo se atribuyen a infecciones crónicas. Estas infecciones están causadas por el Helicobacter pylori (cáncer gástrico), el virus del papiloma humano (o VPH – carcinoma de cuello uterino, cáncer anal y oral), los virus de la hepatitis B y C (cáncer de hígado) y, en algunas partes del mundo, el virus de Epstein-Barr (ciertos tipos de linfomas). El principio es bastante sencillo: si podemos prevenir estas enfermedades  crónicas mediante la vacunación, evitaremos la consecuencia de estas infecciones, es decir, el cáncer. Esto se utiliza cuando los sujetos sanos reciben vacunas de prevención del cáncer, que protegerán al organismo de los virus que causan la enfermedad. Ya existen ciertas vacunas de prevención del cáncer contra algunos virus, como la hepatitis B o el VPH. Los resultados epidemiológicos publicados recientemente han demostrado su eficacia. Basta con echar un vistazo a Australia; ya en 2007 este país comenzó a proporcionar la vacuna contra el VPH a todas las niñas de 12 a 13 años de forma gratuita, y empezó a hacer lo mismo con todos los niños en 2013. Según datos oficiales, la tasa de VPH entre las mujeres jóvenes se redujo del 22% al 1% entre 2005 y 2015. Además, según el reciente artículo de Michaela T. Hall en TheLancet Public Health, la infección por el VPH (y los cánceres de cuello de útero) debería eliminarse por completo en los próximos 20 años. Australia está en camino de convertirse en el primer país en eliminar el cáncer de cuello de útero, según Karen Canfell, epidemióloga del cáncer en el Cancer Council NSW.

Vacunas e inmunoterapia

cancer immunotherapy vaccinesAdemás de utilizar vacunas de prevención, la inmunoterapia contra el cáncer es un ejemplo, son conocidas como vacunas terapéuticas, que incluyen otros tipos de vacunas contra los cánceres no relacionados con las infecciones. Las vacunas terapéuticas se administran a pacientes ya diagnosticados de cáncer, y son complementarias a otros tratamientos, como la quimioterapia o la radioterapia. Ahora sabemos que todas las células cancerígenas albergan antígenos específicos en su superficie, y estos antígenos son bastante específicos del tipo de cáncer. El objetivo de toda la investigación en curso es provocar una reacción inmunitaria específica dirigida a estos antígenos específicos. El objetivo final es la destrucción inmunitaria de todas estas células cancerosas. Algunas vacunas ya han demostrado cierta eficacia, especialmente en el caso del melanoma metastásico.

Perspectivas: ¿qué nos depara el futuro?

En la actualidad, muchas vacunas se encuentran en diferentes fases de desarrollo y sólo están disponibles a través de ensayos clínicos, en parte porque es muy difícil desarrollar vacunas para el tratamiento del cáncer que tengan éxito. Las vacunas para el tratamiento del cáncer siguen teniendo ciertas limitaciones, como el sistema inmunitario de los pacientes con cáncer, a menudo suprimido, o la incapacidad del propio sistema para reconocer y destruir posteriormente las células dañinas: dado que las células cancerosas se desarrollan a partir de las propias células sanas del individuo, el sistema inmunitario puede pasar por alto las células sanas que han sufrido cambios.

Vacunación durante la terapia contra el cáncer

Muchos especialistas en cáncer recomiendan evitar la vacunación durante la terapia contra el cáncer (quimio o radioterapia) por dos razones principales. La primera es bastante obvia, ya que estos tratamientos contra el cáncer disminuyen la eficacia del sistema inmunitario como “efectos secundarios” colaterales. Por lo tanto, es bastante inútil buscar la elicitación de la respuesta inmune a través de la vacunación durante estos períodos; el resultado final podría ser bastante decepcionante. La segunda razón está relacionada con el hecho de que algunas vacunas utilizan una forma viva y atenuada del virus. Incluso en su forma “atenuada”, el virus puede revelarse peligroso dentro de un organismo con un sistema inmunitario debilitado. No cabe duda de que en los próximos años asistiremos a la aparición de nuevas terapias dirigidas y al desarrollo de nuevas vacunas que, solas o combinadas con las terapias existentes, darán nuevas esperanzas a millones de pacientes de cáncer en todo el mundo. Fuentes:
  • ASCO
  • Conquer Cancer Foundation
  • cancer.net
  • WHO
  • The dawn of vaccines for cancer prevention. Olivera Finn, Nature Reviews Immunology volume 18, pages 183–194, 2018
  • The Projected timeframe until cervical cancer elimination in Australia: a modeling study. Michaela T Hall, Karen Canfell et al. Published October 02, 2018
cancer vacuna
Related Posts
Can vaccines prevent cancer?
-
admin admin
Health
October 22, 2020

The perception of health benefits of vaccines

Since the end of the 18thcentury with the English doctor Edward Jenner, and especially one century later with the seminal works of French biologist Louis Pasteur, vaccination has proven its efficacy against some deadly infectious diseases. While some people might still object and dispute the positive benefits of vaccination, there is undeniable evidence to prove them wrong.

How do vaccines work?

Vaccination works through stimulation of the vaccinated organism’s immune system. The goal of anti-infectious vaccination is to produce antibodies that fight virus and/or bacteria. The immune system gets trained to recognize and destroy such harmful agents. In the recent years, doctors have begun considering the possibility of not only treating cancer, but also preventing it by using vaccines.1  

Can vaccines prevent cancer?

According to the World Health Organization, around 15% of all cancers in the world are attributed to chronic infections. These infections are caused by Helicobacter pylori (gastric cancer), human papilloma virus (or HPV – cervix carcinoma, anal and oral cancer), hepatitis B and C virus (liver cancer), and, in some parts of the world, Epstein-Barr virus (certain types of lymphomas). The principle is quite simple: if we can prevent these chronic infections through vaccination, we will prevent the consequence of these chronic infections, i.e., cancers. This is used when healthy subjects are given cancer prevention vaccines, which will protect the body from disease-causing viruses. Certain cancer prevention vaccines are already available against some carcinogenic viruses, such as hepatitis B or HPV. The recently published epidemiologic results have proven their efficacy. Just take a look at Australia; as early as 2007, Australia began providing the HPV vaccine to all the 12 to 13 year-old girls for free, and started doing the same for all boys in 2013. According to official data, the HPV rate among young women was reduced from 22 percent to 1 percent between 2005 and 2015. Furthermore, according to Michaela T. Hall’s recent article in TheLancet Public Health, HPV infection (and cervical cancers) should be completely eliminated within the next 20 years. Australia is on track to becoming the first country to eliminate cervical cancer, according to Karen Canfell, a cancer epidemiologist at Cancer Council NSW.  

Vaccines and immunotherapy

cancer immunotherapy vaccinesBesides using prevention vaccines, cancer immunotherapy is an example for using cancer therapeutic vaccines, also known as therapeutic vaccines, which include other types of vaccines against the cancers not related to infections. Treatment vaccines are given to patients already diagnosed with cancer, and they are complementary to other treatments, such as chemotherapy or radiation therapy. We now know that all cancer cells harbor specific antigens on their surface, and these antigens are quite specific to the cancer type. The goal of all the ongoing research is to elicit a specific immune reaction directed to these specific antigens. The final aim is the immune destruction of all these cancer cells. Some vaccines have already shown some efficacy, especially for metastatic melanoma.

Outlook: what does the future bring?

Currently in different stages of development, a lot of vaccines are still only available through clinical trials, partly because it is extremely hard to develop cancer treatment vaccines that are fully successful. There are still certain limitations, which the cancer treatment vaccines have to deal with, such as the often  suppressed immune system in cancer patients, or  the inadequacy of the immune system to recognize and subsequently destroy harmful cells – since cancer cells develop from an individual’s own healthy cells, the immune system may overlook healthy cells undergone changes.

Vaccination during cancer therapy

Many cancer specialists will recommend avoiding infectious vaccination during cancer therapy (chemo or radiation therapy) for two main reasons. The first one is quite obvious, as these cancer treatments will decrease the efficiency of the immune system as collateral “side effects.” Therefore,  it is quite useless to seek the elicitation of immune response through vaccination during these periods; the final result could be quite disappointing. The second reason is linked to the fact that some vaccines use a live, attenuated form of the virus. Even in its “attenuated” form, the virus can reveal itself to be dangerous inside an organism with a weakened immune system. It is beyond doubt that within the upcoming years we will see the emergence of new targeted therapies, and the development of new vaccines that, either alone or combined with existing therapies, will give new hopes to millions of cancer patients around the world.   Sources:
  • ASCO
  • Conquer Cancer Foundation
  • cancer.net
  • WHO
  • The dawn of vaccines for cancer prevention. Olivera Finn, Nature Reviews Immunology volume 18, pages 183–194, 2018
  • The Projected timeframe until cervical cancer elimination in Australia: a modeling study. Michaela T Hall, Karen Canfell et al. Published October 02, 2018
cancer
Related Posts
Can vaccines prevent cancer?
-
admin admin
Health
October 15, 2020

The perception of health benefits of vaccines

Since the end of the 18thcentury with the English doctor Edward Jenner, and especially one century later with the seminal works of French biologist Louis Pasteur, vaccination has proven its efficacy against some deadly infectious diseases. While some people might still object and dispute the positive benefits of vaccination, there is undeniable evidence to prove them wrong.

How do vaccines work?

Vaccination works through stimulation of the vaccinated organism’s immune system. The goal of anti-infectious vaccination is to produce antibodies that fight virus and/or bacteria. The immune system gets trained to recognize and destroy such harmful agents. In the recent years, doctors have begun considering the possibility of not only treating cancer, but also preventing it by using vaccines.1  

Can vaccines prevent cancer?

According to the World Health Organization, around 15% of all cancers in the world are attributed to chronic infections. These infections are caused by Helicobacter pylori (gastric cancer), human papilloma virus (or HPV – cervix carcinoma, anal and oral cancer), hepatitis B and C virus (liver cancer), and, in some parts of the world, Epstein-Barr virus (certain types of lymphomas). The principle is quite simple: if we can prevent these chronic infections through vaccination, we will prevent the consequence of these chronic infections, i.e., cancers. This is used when healthy subjects are given cancer prevention vaccines, which will protect the body from disease-causing viruses. Certain cancer prevention vaccines are already available against some carcinogenic viruses, such as hepatitis B or HPV. The recently published epidemiologic results have proven their efficacy. Just take a look at Australia; as early as 2007, Australia began providing the HPV vaccine to all the 12 to 13 year-old girls for free, and started doing the same for all boys in 2013. According to official data, the HPV rate among young women was reduced from 22 percent to 1 percent between 2005 and 2015. Furthermore, according to Michaela T. Hall’s recent article in TheLancet Public Health, HPV infection (and cervical cancers) should be completely eliminated within the next 20 years. Australia is on track to becoming the first country to eliminate cervical cancer, according to Karen Canfell, a cancer epidemiologist at Cancer Council NSW.  

Vaccines and immunotherapy

cancer immunotherapy vaccinesBesides using prevention vaccines, cancer immunotherapy is an example for using cancer therapeutic vaccines, also known as therapeutic vaccines, which include other types of vaccines against the cancers not related to infections. Treatment vaccines are given to patients already diagnosed with cancer, and they are complementary to other treatments, such as chemotherapy or radiation therapy. We now know that all cancer cells harbor specific antigens on their surface, and these antigens are quite specific to the cancer type. The goal of all the ongoing research is to elicit a specific immune reaction directed to these specific antigens. The final aim is the immune destruction of all these cancer cells. Some vaccines have already shown some efficacy, especially for metastatic melanoma.

Outlook: what does the future bring?

Currently in different stages of development, a lot of vaccines are still only available through clinical trials, partly because it is extremely hard to develop cancer treatment vaccines that are fully successful. There are still certain limitations, which the cancer treatment vaccines have to deal with, such as the often  suppressed immune system in cancer patients, or  the inadequacy of the immune system to recognize and subsequently destroy harmful cells – since cancer cells develop from an individual’s own healthy cells, the immune system may overlook healthy cells undergone changes.

Vaccination during cancer therapy

Many cancer specialists will recommend avoiding infectious vaccination during cancer therapy (chemo or radiation therapy) for two main reasons. The first one is quite obvious, as these cancer treatments will decrease the efficiency of the immune system as collateral “side effects.” Therefore,  it is quite useless to seek the elicitation of immune response through vaccination during these periods; the final result could be quite disappointing. The second reason is linked to the fact that some vaccines use a live, attenuated form of the virus. Even in its “attenuated” form, the virus can reveal itself to be dangerous inside an organism with a weakened immune system. It is beyond doubt that within the upcoming years we will see the emergence of new targeted therapies, and the development of new vaccines that, either alone or combined with existing therapies, will give new hopes to millions of cancer patients around the world.   Sources:
  • ASCO
  • Conquer Cancer Foundation
  • cancer.net
  • WHO
  • The dawn of vaccines for cancer prevention. Olivera Finn, Nature Reviews Immunology volume 18, pages 183–194, 2018
  • The Projected timeframe until cervical cancer elimination in Australia: a modeling study. Michaela T Hall, Karen Canfell et al. Published October 02, 2018
cancer prevention vaccines
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