Vaccines, are medicines that help our body tofight any disease. They can make the immune system stronger to recognize and destroy harmful substances or bacteria’s. There are 2 types of cancer vaccines:
1-Prevention vaccines
2-Treatment vaccines
Cancer prevention vaccines
Prevention vaccines are given to healthy people bydoctorsto keep certain cancers from developing. Just like the vaccines given for chicken pox or the flu. These vaccines protect the body from viruses that can become a reason for disease. A person should get the vaccine before the virus can infect him or her. Otherwise, the vaccine will not work.
U.S. Has approved two types of vaccines for cancer prevention, Food and Drug Administration (FDA):
HPV vaccine: The vaccine protects against the human papillomavirus (HPV). If the virus is long-lasting, it can result in some serious kind of cancer. The FDA has approved HPV vaccines to prevent:Cervical, vaginal, and vulvar cancer, anal cancer and genital warts. HPV can also result in other cancers for which FDA has not given the permission for vaccine, such as oral cancer.
Hepatitis B vaccine: This vaccine prevents hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Long-lasting infection with HBV can cause liver cancer.
Cancer treatment vaccines
Cancer treatment vaccines, also known astherapeutic vaccines, are a kind of immunotherapy. The vaccines specially helps to speed up the body’s natural defenses to defeat a cancer. Treatment vaccines are given tothe people who are already diagnosed with cancer.
The vaccines may:Prevent the cancer from coming back and destroy any cancer cells still residing in the body after all other treatments have been finished. They also Stops a tumor from growing or spreading.
How a cancer treatment vaccine works
Antigens are substances on the surface of cells that are not normally part of the body. The immune system attacks the antigens, usually getting rid of them. This leaves the immune system with a “memory” that helps it respond to those antigens in the future.Cancer treatment vaccines helps the immune system’s ability to recognize and eliminate antigens. Often, cancer cells have certain molecules that body don’t have. When these molecules are given to a person, the molecules act as antigens. They stimulate the immune system to recognize and destroy cancer cells that have these molecules on their surface. Almost all cancer vaccines also have adjuvants, which might help in making the immune response stronger.
Some cancer vaccines are made for individual patient, which are produced from the person’s tumor sample.
