2.6 Cancer vaccines
The availability of cancer vaccines could dramatically improve health outcomes for patients with cancer. Therapeutic cancer vaccines are given to patients who already have cancer., unlike traditional preventative vaccines that target viruses (e.g., HPV). Cancer vaccines are a form of immunotherapy designed to train the body’s immune system to recognize and destroy cancer cells. While the field is still developing, these vaccines offer a promising approach for treating a range of cancers and are being researched for various types, including melanoma, prostate, and breast cancer. The development and effectiveness of cancer vaccines are rapidly advancing, with a focus on both personalized and off-the-shelf versions.
Personalized vaccines are created from a patient’s own tumor cells, offering a highly specific treatment. A notable example is the vaccine for glioblastoma (brain cancer), which uses the patient’s own tumor cells to prime an immune response (Wheeler, 2019).
Meanwhile, off-the-shelf vaccines are being developed from common cancer antigens to treat a wider population. The ultimate goal is to move beyond conventional treatments, providing a targeted, long-term solution with fewer side effects.
Early results suggest that cancer vaccines can prolong survival, reduce the risk of recurrence, and potentially work in combination with other treatments like chemotherapy and radiation. Their potential to significantly extend healthspan and lifespan by turning cancer into a manageable, long-term condition is a key focus of current and future research. This could mean a person lives for many more years without the debilitating side effects of chemotherapy or the recurrence of tumours. For example, some early clinical trials have shown that these vaccines can lead to disease-free survival rates of over 50% for several years in patients with melanoma, a notoriously aggressive cancer. This translates to more years lived without the burden of disease.
Furthermore, cancer vaccines have the potential to add years to a person’s lifespan. For cancers such as prostate cancer, which is typically slow-growing, a vaccine that slows progression or prevents recurrence could add 5 to 10 years or more to a person’s life (Ninmer 2024). The ultimate impact will be a shift in the treatment paradigm, where a cancer diagnosis no longer means a limited life expectancy but a potentially manageable condition, similar to how HIV went from a death sentence to a chronic illness.