IS PREVENTION OF CANCER POSSIBLE WITH TUMOR-SPECIFIC VACCINES

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death today, and new therapeuti c approaches are continuously being explored. In recent years, cancer vaccines have been tried with the aim of induction of an active specif ic immune response against the tumor. Although some successful results are obtained, cure rates are still disappointing. The main reason for failure is that vaccines are applied to patients diagnosed with cance r; in these patients, tumor cell burden is so high that it is almost i mpossible to overcome the disease by increasing the immune response wi th vaccines at this stage. This hypothesis is based on the following i dea: since therapy for cancer is unsuccessful in the majority of patie nts, methods of prevention should be improved. Immunization against mi croorganisms has largely prevented morbidity and mortality from infect ious disease. In a similar way, if we immunize people before the devel opment of malignant disease with tumor-specific vaccines, than prevent ion of cancer may be possible.