By: Melissa Zhao

Different cures and vaccines have saved millions of patients that are victim to deadly sicknesses. However, there is no single vaccine that can cure cancer. Every person has their own genetic system and is unique, so each special cure could only work on one person.

Recent studies of cancer cells have led doctors and scientists to work on creating cancer vaccines that are special to each person’s cancer. Once the cancer cells are found, it can be the baseline to building a cancer specialized to that person. Each person’s cancerous tumor is different, as it is keyed to their genetic code.

Research into personalized cancer vaccines has been going on for decades, but some early clinical trials were published in the mid 2010s. In 2017, Harvard published a study with six melanoma, or skin cancer, victims treated with personalized cancer vaccines. In 2021, the researchers reported that all of the patients were still alive, though two of them with advanced cancer had their cancer return sometime after the vaccination.

Cancer cells often have mutations or special markers called neoantigens that make the cells stand out from normal cells. Once the neoantigens are identified, a vaccine is created to boost the immune system that lets the system recognize and attack the cancerous cells.

There are many advantages of personalized cancer vaccines. By targeting specific neoantigens and cells, personalized vaccines are more effective and could definitely help the patient more. It also creates a lasting defense against cancer cells and can be updated and adapted if needed.

As our technology gets more advanced and our understanding of cancer deepens, many victims are hopeful of finally getting a vaccine or medicine that is keyed to their genes. Personalized cancer vaccines are expected to play a significant role in treating cancer.

Many doctors are working on developing and testing these vaccines. Dr. Catherine Wu identified unique tumor neoantigens and tested the technology on patients, and three to four years later, the patients were alive and healthy. Dr. Elizabeth Jaffe, the deputy director of the Kimmel Cancer Center, has decades of experience and research with cancer vaccines and is also contributing to the efforts to create these vaccines.

Doctors and scientists continue to do the best they can to treat cancer patients, but personalized cancer vaccines are looking more and more likely to become the main treatment for cancer victims. Hopefully, personalized cancer vaccines are in our near future and will help cancer patients get through the difficulties of cancer.