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Vaccine as a Cure
Although the ultimate aim of this research program is to develop a preventive vaccine that can protect women worldwide from cervical cancer, vaccination can also be used therapeutically. Unfortunately this is not an option when the tumor is already large and has metastases throughout the body. The immune system cannot cope with such large number of cancer cells. Moreover, there are strong indications that tumors produce chemicals that impede the immune system.
However, the vaccine will shortly be tested in a therapeutic setting. Women with carcinoma of the cervix in stage 1B or 2A run a 15% risk of the cancer returning after the tumor has, in principle, been completely removed by the gynecologist. Microscopically tiny metastases that grow after the tumor has been removed are responsible for that. it is to be expected that the vaccine will boost the immune system in a way that these small numbers of cancer cells are destroyed in time. Results into the efficacy of the vaccine in this particular area are expected in a few years from now.
Vaccine against other diseases
When prevention and treatment of cervical cancer turn out to be possible by using vaccination, it will have implications for other cancers. Although there are no foreign virus proteins in most cancers, cancer cells do vary immunologically from healthy cells. The laboratory which is developing a vaccine against cervical cancer is also involved in research into vaccines against other cancers such as intestinal cancer. The knowledge that is acquired during the cervical cancer project will be put to good use for millions of patients who suffer rom other cancers. Another benefit could be that by developing a peptide vaccine against cervical cancer, more effective vaccines can be developed against infections within the cell, such as tuberculosis and virus infections. Needless to say, this includes a vaccine against the plague of our time: HIV.