Countless lives have been saved since the invention of vaccines. Stopping a disease before is occurs surely seems like the best way to combat illnesses. But it’s not so simple when it comes to cancer.
“People [often wonder], can you treat cancer before it occurs? There are some ways to think about that happening, but … you’d have to know what the mutations are before you get cancer, and that’s hard to do,” says Dr. Jim Allison, Chair of the Department of Immunology at MD Anderson Cancer Center and winner of the 2018 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine.
Dr. Allison says that immunotherapy is like a vaccine in a way, because “you’re alerting the immune system. The problem with making vaccines is that you have to know what the mutations are. So if you could sequence the mutations, sequence the tumor, determine the mutations, design a vaccine that’s composed of what the tumor has got … that’s a way of using mutation analysis to really enhance therapies.”
Dr. Allison says there’s a lot of research looking at ways to use mutation analysis as part of treatment. But an actual cancer vaccine may be wishful thinking. “Thinking about a vaccine where we can prevent cancer, and treat it before it’s known to be there is going to be rough,” Dr. Allison says.
Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.
Dr. Jim Allison is the recipient of the 2018 Nobel Prize in Medicine. He is also the Chair of the Department of Immunology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Read More
Countless lives have been saved since the invention of vaccines. Stopping a disease before is occurs surely seems like the best way to combat illnesses. But it’s not so simple when it comes to cancer.
“People [often wonder], can you treat cancer before it occurs? There are some ways to think about that happening, but … you’d have to know what the mutations are before you get cancer, and that’s hard to do,” says Dr. Jim Allison, Chair of the Department of Immunology at MD Anderson Cancer Center and winner of the 2018 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine.
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Dr. Allison says that immunotherapy is like a vaccine in a way, because “you’re alerting the immune system. The problem with making vaccines is that you have to know what the mutations are. So if you could sequence the mutations, sequence the tumor, determine the mutations, design a vaccine that’s composed of what the tumor has got … that’s a way of using mutation analysis to really enhance therapies.”
Dr. Allison says there’s a lot of research looking at ways to use mutation analysis as part of treatment. But an actual cancer vaccine may be wishful thinking. “Thinking about a vaccine where we can prevent cancer, and treat it before it’s known to be there is going to be rough,” Dr. Allison says.
Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.
Dr. Jim Allison is the recipient of the 2018 Nobel Prize in Medicine. He is also the Chair of the Department of Immunology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Read More
