By: Chloe Kwon 

Cancer has been a problem for many, many years. People lose their friends and family to it, and so far, no one has found a complete cure. There are many types of cancer: skin cancer, lung cancer, breast cancer and many more. Doctors and scientists have been working hard on the cure for cancer for many years. Now, there might be a start on the long journey to the remedy.

Dr. Catherine Wu and her team from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston have found a very promising cure for a common type of skin cancer called melanoma. Patients who suffer melanoma have a red spot at the area where cancer is. Dr. Wu figured out that each individual has to have personalized vaccines since each person has different cancer characteristics. She got this idea from seeing a bone marrow transplant to a patient who has leukemia reset their immune system. To make a personalized vaccine, Dr. Wu takes out a bit of the tumor, mixes it with adjuvant, a medicine that helps the body’s immune response to an antigen. Then, when the vaccine is injected it tells the white blood cells to target the harmful cells.

Six melanoma patients were chosen to have the personalized vaccines injected in their bodies during trials. After a few weeks, four of them were completely cured of cancer, and only two had to go back for more shots. This has proven Dr. Wu’s studies are correct and reasonable.

Now, Dr. Wu has received the Sjöberg Prize, which comes with a monetary award of 1 million dollars, to further continue research leading into curing skin cancer. And possibly, later in the future, finding the cure for all types.