CANCER

VACCINES
By Uswa
siddique

CANCER VACCINES
A vaccine stimulates the immune
system to produce antibodies to fight a
disease.
They help train the immune system to
recognize
and
destroy
harmful
substances.

TYPES OF CANCER VACCINES

1. Vaccines to prevent a cancer from developing
(prophylactic or prevention vaccines)
2. Vaccines to treat a cancer (therapeutic or
treatment
vaccine)
Most cancer vaccines are still being studied in
clinical trials.

PREVENTIVE OR PROPHYLACTIC
VACCINES
Prophylactic vaccines commonly use proteins
on the surface of the virus (antigen) to trigger
an immune system response against the virus.
used to prevent viral infections associated
with the development of cancer.
designed to stimulate the immune system to
attack certain viruses before they cause an
infection.

given to healthy people before cancer

develops.

MECHANISM OF PROPHYLACTIVE VACCINES

Three cancer prevention vaccines

approved by FDA
1. Gardasal protects against the human papillomavirus
(HPV). HPV can also cause other cancers the FDA hasnt
approved the vaccine for, such as oral cancer
2. Cervarix vaccine also protects against HPV infection.
The FDA approved it for the prevention of cervical cancer
3. Hepatitis B vaccine prevents hepatitis B virus (HBV)
infection. Long-lasting infection with HBV can cause liver
cancer.
These types of vaccines are only useful for cancers known
to be caused by infections

HBV VACCINE PREPARATION

THERAPEUTIC OR TREATMENT VACCINES

Treatment vaccines are designed to stimulate the
body to produce an immune response against
cancer cells, rather than prevent viral infections

contain whole antigens or parts of antigens from

cancer cells. The vaccine triggers an immune
response against the specific cancer cells present
in the body. It activates certain white blood cells,
including T cells and B cells. These activated cells
either directly kill cancer cells or produce
antibodies against them.

TREATMENT VACCINES
Doctors give treatment vaccines to people already
diagnosed with cancer. The vaccines may:
Prevent the cancer from coming back

Destroy any cancer cells still in the body after

other treatment

Stop a tumor from growing or spreading

TYPES OF THERAPEUTIC VACCINES

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Antigen cancer vaccines

Whole tumor cell vaccine
Anti-idiotype cancer vaccine
Dendrite cell cancer vaccines
DNA cancer vaccines

ANTIGEN VACCINES

Made from special proteins

or parts of proteins (antigens)
from the surface of cancer cells.

Aim to stimulate the patients

immune system to attack the cancer.

Scientists have worked out the

genetic codes of many cancer cell
proteins, so they can make them in
the lab in large quantities.

Only effective in cancer types that

have well defined tumor antigens

PREPARATION OF ANTIGEN VACCINES

Tumor
cells

tumor

WHOLE TUMOR CELL VACCINE

A whole cell vaccine uses the whole cancer
cell, not just a specific cell protein (antigen),
to make the vaccine.
Doctors make the vaccine from a patients
own cancer cells, (autologous vaccine)
Tumor cells taken from other people who
have the same type of cancer are often used
to make the vaccine (allogeneic vaccine).

Tumor specific,time
expensive

consuming

May be impossible to isolate and grow

and

GVAX
vaccine
pancreatic,
prostate
tumor cells

ANTI-IDIOTYPE VACCINE

Unique amino acid sequence in

the antibody is idiotype

Antibodies can be raised against

the idiotype by injection antibody
into the another animal
Can be used as vaccine

(Antiidiotype)

ANTI-IDIOTYPE VACCINE
Anti-idiotype vaccines are directed against
specific antibodies found on the surface of Blymphoma cells .
Advantage of targeting a unique tumor-specific
antigen.
Disadvantage is that their generation and
production are quite labor intensive in that, each
anti-idiotype vaccine has been patient specific.
However, some researchers have shown that
these patient-specific vaccines can be produced
in less than a month

DENDRITIC CELL VACCINE

Dendritic cells are a type of white blood cell that
helps fight infection by producing signals (antigens)
to boost the immune response. A dendritic vaccine
uses cancer cells mixed with dendritic cells to
stimulate the immune system.

They help the immune system recognize and

destroy cancer cells that have the antigen.

Dendritic cell vaccines are custom made for each

person.
Treat patients with prostate cancer, colorectal
cancer, melanoma, glioma, and other cancers

MECHANISM OF DENDRITIC CELL VACCINES

DNA vaccines

The effect of a cancer vaccine often

becomes weaker as time goes by
because the immune system eventually
returns to its normal state of activity.
Researchers are studying whether DNA
vaccines can help the body maintain the
immune response longer by providing it
with a steady supply of antigens.
DNA inside cancer cells contains the genetic code for the
proteins (antigens) that they make. Bits of DNA that contain
the genetic instructions for one or more antigens may be
used to make the vaccine. The DNA for the vaccine is made
in the laboratory, sometimes using a persons own cells.
After a DNA vaccine is injected into a person, cells take up
the DNA. These cells now have the instructions to make the
specific cancer cell antigen. This constant supply of antigen
keeps the immune system actively fighting the cancer cells.

PREPARATION OF DNA VACCINE

After a DNA vaccine is injected into a person, cells take

up the DNA. These cells now have the instructions to
make the specific cancer cell antigen. This constant
supply of antigen keeps the immune system actively
fighting the cancer cells.

LIMITATIONS OF CANCER TREATMENT VACCINES

Developing cancer treatment vaccines that work is hard because:

Cancer cells suppress the immune system. Thats how the cancer is able
to develop and grow in the first place. Researchers are using adjuvants in
vaccines to try to fix this problem.
Cancer cells develop from a persons own healthy cells. As a result, the
cancer cells may not look harmful to the immune system. The immune
system may ignore the cells instead of finding and destroying them.
Larger or more advanced tumors are hard to get rid of using only a
vaccine. This is one reason why doctors often give patients cancer
vaccines along with other treatments.
People who are sick or older can have weak immune systems. As a result,
their bodies may not be able to produce a strong immune response after
vaccination. That limits how well a vaccine works. Also, some cancer
treatments may damage a persons immune system, limiting its ability to
respond to a vaccine