Develop vaccines that can attack tumors

Scientists in the US on December 12 said they have developed a vaccine that attacks tumors in mice. This breakthrough is expected to help protect against human cancers of the breast, colon, ovary and pancreas.

Although studies in mice often do not directly translate into human remedies, researchers are expecting much of this work because the vaccine is powerful and has a special approach.

Geert-Jan Boons, co-author of the study, chemistry professor and researcher at the University of Georgia Cancer Center, said: 'This vaccine causes a very strong immune response. It activates all three components of the immune system to reduce an average of 80% of the tumor size. "

According to the study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , the mechanism of this vaccine is to train the immune system to attack tumors with proteins called MUC1 on the surface of the tumor cells.

MUC1 is found in more than 70% of the most dangerous cancers and has the highest death rate, including the majority of cancers of the breast, pancreas, ovary and myeloma.

The vaccine against MUC1 can be used in combination with chemotherapy or as a preventive measure in patients with high risk of cancer.

This is the first time researchers have developed a vaccine to train the immune system to differentiate and destroy cancer cells based on their different sugar structures on proteins such as MUC1.

Researchers are currently testing the vaccine on human cancer cells in the laboratory and may begin conducting phase 1 clinical trials at the end of 2013.