Round Two: Vaccine vs. Cancer

Scientists Have Developed a Vaccine for Pancreatic Cancer

Photo by Diana Polekhina on Unsplash

There are currently multiple research teams invested in developing pancreatic cancer vaccines. Among these teams are scientists from Johns Hopkins Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) and Aduro Biotech. Johns Hopkins Medicine began their research in 1991, whereas MSKCC began in 2017 with the discovery that survivors had specialized immune cells that were able to recognize neoantigens, which are proteins found in cancer.

These vaccines, being a form of immunotherapy, aim to prevent recurrence of the cancer by utilizing the immune system, which is typically tolerant to cancerous cells. In Johns Hopkins Medicine’s vaccine, they use radiation-treated cancer cells that are genetically modified to produce GM-CSF molecules as bait to attract immune system cells. The immune system cells are then introduced to antigens, which is a protein found on the surface of the radiated cells. This prompts the immune system cells to recognize and attack cancerous cells, in turn destroying lingering microscopic pancreas cancer cells that evaded previous therapies.