By Vera Viner
Right now, the healthcare sector is developing different types of preventive vaccines to help stop the spread of cancer among patients. As for breast cancer, Dr. Vincent Tuohy at the Cleveland Clinic is closer than ever before to clinical trials for the first vaccine to prevent this disease.
An oral vaccine is also in development to stage a two-step battle by the immune system against tumor cells, which is expected to lower the rate of breast cancer recurrence, according to Medical Xpress. Researchers from the University of Cincinnati (UC) Cancer Institute and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have published their discovery in the January 8 edition of Molecular Therapy.
These researchers were the first to utilize oral delivery of the virus recombinant adeno-associated virus (AAV). Previous oral vaccines have been tested on animals but raised some safety concerns as the specimens were thought to be hazardous to human health depending on the amount ingested. AAV, however, has minimal negative effects and is currently being considered for gene therapy to treat genetic disorders.
“The strain that remained in the stomach was more effective at preventing breast cancer tumors than the strain that traveled systemically – 100 percent of study subjects had no tumors for over a year following the treatment,” UC College of Medicine research assistant professor and co-author Dr. Jason Steel told the news source. “Additionally, we showed that oral delivery (versus intramuscular injection) was more effective, resulting in a stronger immune response with greater than a 100 percent increase in anti-tumor antibodies at the lower doses and increased survival.”
Steel went on to say that AAV is a beneficial specimen to utilize because it “survives the stomach” and its acidic environment. Since it does not break down in the stomach, it made sense to administer it as an oral vaccine.
Another major cancer vaccine that has made headlines in recent years is that of the Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. Cervical cancer is one of the most preventative diseases today and yet, 275,000 deaths occur every year despite the presence of a vaccine, according to The Guardian.
The problems occur specifically in developing countries. However, the firm Gavi is currently funding HPV vaccines for young females in 73 of the world’s poorest nations. The organization has set a goal of vaccinating 30 million girls against cervical cancer by 2020.
“There is a triple whammy for women in the developing world: they have a higher incidence of HPV infection, there is usually no good screening programme in place and if they do get cervical cancer they don’t have good treatment options,” Seth Berkley, Gavi chief executive, told the news source.
While this organization has focused on preventing this disease in the developing nations of the world, there is an additional issue to address – based on the National Health Interview Survey, there is actually a low rate of HPV vaccine uptake in the teenage girls of the United States.
Only about 20 percent of teenagers between the ages of 13 and 17 have been administered the HPV vaccine while 70 percent of girls were vaccinated in the United Kingdom. The Huffington Post reported that the biggest reason for this may be lack of education. Some may have safety concerns, as the previously unfounded and false research linking the MMR vaccine to autism brought panic to many parents.
The people of the United States need to see the efficacy and major benefits of cancer vaccines. If the Cleveland Clinic’s breast cancer vaccine is found safe and effective in women, there will be nothing to fear. If anything, it would be time to rejoice and celebrate! Once a preventive breast cancer vaccine is out on the market, the lives of millions of women around the world will be saved!
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