Vaccines against cancer and heart disease will be ready by the end of 10 years

SHAFAQNA Türkiye – Breakthrough new vaccines to treat a range of diseases, including cancer, could be ready by 2030 and could save millions of lives, experts say.

Covid vaccine maker Moderna said new cancer vaccines show huge promise and match nearly 20 years of progress in 12 to 18 months, according to news in The Independent.

“HE WILL SAVE THE LIVES OF HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE”

Moderna’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Paul Burton said there is hope that vaccines will be able to treat cardiovascular and autoimmune diseases, as well as all sorts of other conditions.

“We will have this vaccine and it will be extremely effective,” Burton told The Guardian. This will save hundreds of thousands if not millions of lives. “I think we can offer people around the world personalized cancer vaccines against many different types of tumors.”

An mRNA-based cancer vaccine would alert the immune system to cancer that is already growing in the patient’s body so it can attack and destroy that cancer without destroying healthy cells.

This involves identifying protein fragments on the surface of cancer cells that are not present in healthy cells and that are most likely to elicit an immune response, and then creating mRNA fragments that will tell the body how to make them.

An mRNA-based cancer vaccine will alert the immune system to cancer already growing in the patient’s body so it can attack and destroy that cancer without destroying healthy cells. This involves identifying protein fragments on the surface of cancer cells that healthy cells don’t have, and then creating mRNA fragments that tell the body how to make them.

IN WHAT AREAS CAN YOU APPLY?

Stating that mRNA is not only used in infectious diseases or Covid, Burton said: “It can be applied to any area of ​​the disease; cancer, infectious diseases, cardiovascular diseases, autoimmune diseases, rare diseases. We have work in all these areas, and they all have great prospects.”

In January, Moderna announced the results of the final phase of trials of an experimental RSV mRNA vaccine, showing that the vaccine was 83.7% effective in preventing at least two symptoms, cough and fever, in adults aged 60 years and older. Based on this data, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has awarded the vaccine a breakthrough therapy title, which means accelerating regulatory review.

OTHER PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES WORK ON VACCINES

Other pharmaceutical companies are also working on vaccines to fight cancer and other diseases.

In January, it was announced that cutting-edge research to develop personalized mRNA vaccines for cancer patients would be accelerated following the successful introduction of a Covid vaccine in the UK.

German company BioNTech, which makes the Covid vaccine with Pfizer, will also partner with the government to provide 10,000 personalized medicines to patients in the UK by 2030.

As planned, cancer patients will receive early access to trials on personalized mRNA treatments, including cancer vaccines. Such vaccines will contain a genetic blueprint that stimulates the immune system to attack cancer cells.

IF SUCCESSFUL, CANCER VACCINES MAY BE PART OF STANDARD TREATMENT

Cancer trials could begin in the second half of this year. A large number of cancer patients suitable for trials will be quickly identified, and potential vaccines against several types of cancer will be explored. It will aim to help patients with early and advanced cancer.

If successfully developed, cancer vaccines could become part of standard treatment.

In 2019, 327,174 new cases of cancer were diagnosed in the UK. The incidence rate increased between 1995 and 2013, but has declined slightly since then, according to the House of Commons Library.